


Out Of Phase

by Mack_the_Spoon



Series: Phases [1]
Category: Timeless (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Werewolf, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-06
Updated: 2017-12-06
Packaged: 2018-10-28 18:15:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 38,374
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10836711
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mack_the_Spoon/pseuds/Mack_the_Spoon
Summary: Lucy has a secret that she's kept for her entire life. When a mission takes a turn for the unexpected, she's forced to trust her team with it - but what if the secret is deeper than even she knows? What if her family's legacy, that she's never been interested in, has more sinister ties than she'd ever imagined?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to Namarie for the edits.
> 
> Spoilers for the whole first season.

She should have double-checked everything. It all should have been second nature by now. It should have been second nature after only a handful of jumps, much less after the ten or so that the team had done now. But somehow she only checked the charts once, early on, before their final preparations for leaving. And of course, the one time she didn't make absolutely sure of both the charts and her supply of medication was the one time she really, really should have.

It wasn't until evening fell in Andover that Lucy realized just how badly things were about to go wrong. She and Wyatt were having dinner at the town inn when she felt the first warning signs. “Wyatt,” she said in a low tone, nudging his arm. “Wyatt, we have to get out of here. We have to... get back to the Lifeboat. Right now.”

“What? Why?” he asked, also speaking in an undertone. “We haven't found Flynn yet, or even any sign of him.”

“I know, but trust me, this is more urgent. I'm going now.” She stood up and began to walk quickly out of the building. Thankfully, he followed (she spared a thought to hope he'd left some money on their table).

“What the h–” Wyatt checked himself, and then went on. “What's going on, Lucy?” They were still too close to the inn. Too close to everyone.

“I haven't told you everything about myself,” Lucy said, still walking. She should be running, but that would just draw attention to them, which was the last thing they needed. At least this Puritan dress was meant to allow physical work, so walking fast was possible. “Maybe that was stupid, but I hoped I would never have to. I'm always so careful. But it wasn't supposed to happen like this.”

“What are you talking about?” Again, she was grateful that he was keeping pace with her. “Lucy, we shouldn't be taking a walk outside town at night. I'm no historian, but I'm betting it can't be safe out here.”

Lucy snorted. “It's not. Not for us, but also not for anyone who runs into me, if we don't keep moving.”

“Okay, now you have to give me something, Lucy,” Wyatt insisted. “I need to know what's going on.”

“I know,” she said. And she did know, in spite of all her hard work to avoid any moment like this. She paused for a second, so she could meet his eyes. “So. If I tell you that there's a website that lets you check what the phase of the moon was on any given historical date and I guess I could have made a mistake entering the date this time, and that I thought my Morfex patch was good until the end of the week but now I'm suddenly a lot less sure, and that I somehow didn't bring any Lupinox with me, maybe that will clear things up for you.”

Wyatt's eyes were huge by the time she was done talking. He blew out a breath. “Oh my God.”

“Yeah,” she said, swallowing, and then kept walking. “So my thought is, if I get to the Lifeboat before the moon rises, then you can shut me inside and at least I won't hurt anyone or be burned at the stake for witchcraft.”

Wyatt swore. “But if you're not sure about those things, does that mean you – you already feel like you're going to transform?”

“Uh huh,” she said shortly.

There was silence as they continued moving for a few minutes. Then Wyatt spoke again. “Look. I know it's personal, and you're not legally required to tell anyone... but I thought we weren't going to keep secrets from each other on this team, anymore.”

“You're right, it is personal,” Lucy snapped. She took a deep breath. Giving in to anger right now was a terrible idea. “Okay. Fine. Here's some free information for you: I'm not in any pack, as you probably can figure out. There are a lot of reasons for that, and I'm not going into it right now. Anyway, what I will say is that discrimination against Lycanth... I'm one hundred percent sure I wouldn't have gotten my job if people knew.” She scoffed. “I guess I mean either my real job, or whatever this job is. So, yeah. I don't tell _anyone_ about this, Wyatt. No one.”

He didn't reply right away, and she wasn't looking at him, so she couldn't tell exactly how he was reacting. At least she didn't smell fear. “I guess I can't pretend I know what it's like,” he finally said. “And obviously, we've been doing this a while and this kind of thing has never happened before, so you must know what you're doing.”

“I should,” she said. “I've been doing it my whole life. And by the way? It's only since starting to travel in time that there's been any chance that I lose track of the lunar cycle.”

“Huh. Yeah, that's inconvenient.”

She was about to reply when a shiver passed through her, and it was her turn to swear. “Okay, I'm holding it off as best as I can,” she said, and she could hear the tension in her own voice. “But I don't know how long I can keep it up. So listen: I've had decades of experience with my wolf form. I'm not going to be totally wild. And I know you, so that's even better. That means the chances of me attacking you are pretty much nil.”

“Good to hear,” was all he said, although he sounded tense, too.

“But, not to state the obvious, I won't just be the person you know, who happens to be in wolf form, either.” She tried not to glance up at the sky, to look for the moon on the horizon. “Since we're in the woods, most likely I'll take off running. And that's where, if I meet anyone else...” She trailed off, pressing her lips together.

“We're close to the Lifeboat,” Wyatt told her. “Which isn't to say I don't appreciate the tips. But maybe we'll make it in time.”

Lucy shuddered again, and bit back a groan. “We also need to get there in plenty of time for Rufus to get out, first.” It had seemed logical when they arrived to have Rufus stay with the Lifeboat, considering how much attention he'd attract in colonial New England. Now, though, if she was transforming as they arrived... And did the Lifeboat door only close from the inside? She swallowed again.

“Understood,” Wyatt was saying.

Lucy kept silent from then on, every ounce of energy that wasn't being used to keep up her pace now devoted to holding back the change. She'd never really had reason to do this before, so she honestly didn't know how long she could expect it to work. She had to admit it was already going better than it could have.

At the sight of the Lifeboat in the clearing, Wyatt gave a shout. “Rufus! You need to get out of there, right now!”

Lucy groaned. She could feel her skin starting to heat up. She wasn't going to be able to hold on much longer.

The door opened. “Wyatt? What the hell's going on? Is someone chasing you guys?”

“Just get down here,” Wyatt said. “Right now.”

“Does the door close from outside?” Lucy asked, and now her voice sounded extremely bizarre. “And lock?”

“Uh, yeah, we can – what's wrong?” Rufus said, jumping down from the Lifeboat and staring at her. It was full dark now, but she didn't doubt she looked abnormal by this point.

“Just get in, Lucy,” Wyatt urged. “We'll figure it out here.”

Lucy scrambled in with difficulty, her limbs just about at the stage of feeling molten and unsteady. But the thought of having an irresistible urge to run away until she was lost somewhere in Massachusetts right before the Salem witch hysteria gave her an extra, panicked boost, and she managed to get in. “Close it!” she said, and it was almost a snarl.

“Holy shit!” she heard Rufus yell, but the door closed.

And Lucy finally relaxed. Her last clear thought before the pain and heat took over was that she didn't know what she'd be wearing when they did go back home, since these clothes were going to be a total loss.

~~~~~~

When the sun rose the next day, Wyatt woke with a start. Just briefly, he was disoriented to find that he and Rufus had been sleeping on the ground in front of the Lifeboat, apparently all night. And then he remembered. “Lucy!” He sat up, rubbing a hand over his stiff neck.

“What? Where?” said Rufus, sitting up and looking around frantically.

“Where's she's been since last night,” Wyatt said. “I just... I remembered, when I woke up.” He shivered as the sounds she'd made for the first several hours came back to him. The trapped Lycanth had obviously been furious, desperate to escape. He'd been extra glad that they were far enough from the town that it wasn't likely that anyone else had heard. Later, Lucy must have given up, because she'd quieted. Maybe she'd even gone to sleep. It definitely hadn't been until then that either he or Rufus had any chance of sleeping, themselves.

“Oh. Yeah.” Rufus yawned. “Uh, so... should we open the door?”

“Well, you've probably read as much about Lycanth as I have,” said Wyatt. “They're supposed to, uh, come back to themselves in daylight, right?”

Rufus nodded. “Yeah, that's what I've heard.”

“And Lucy said she's, um, she has more control over herself than some, in wolf form,” Wyatt added. “Or at least that's what it sounded like. She said she knows us, so she wouldn't attack us.”

Rufus raised his eyebrows. “Okay, but that was also before we locked her in a tiny metal cage all night.”

He hadn't thought of that. Clearing his throat, he stood up. “Well, we still have to get home somehow.”

“All our food's in there, too,” Rufus said, also getting to his feet. Then he winced. “I mean, it was in there. I sort of think maybe Lucy would have found it last night, though.”

Wyatt paused. “Yeah, I bet you're right. Anyway.” Quietly, as if she wouldn't be able to hear anyway, he climbed up to the door. “Here goes,” he muttered, and then released the safety catch that Rufus had engaged last night. The door opened.

At first, all he noticed was the claw marks – and maybe teeth marks? – all over the seats and every remotely soft surface of the inside. He cleared his throat. She would have held herself back from destroying any machinery, he hoped. “Lucy?”

There was a rustling sound from behind the seat she usually used. Then a shadow rose up, and when it took a few steps forward so that some light fell on it, he gasped.

He had never seen a Lycanth in wolf form before, and his first thought was that 'wolf' wasn't really the right name. It – she – was canine, yes, but probably a good two times bigger than any wolf he'd ever seen in a zoo. Her muzzle wasn't quite the same shape as a wolf's, either. And those eyes... Well, they were bright green and didn't look like the eyes of the Lucy he knew, but there was obvious intelligence there. “Uh, hi,” he finally said.

She blinked, and her ears twitched forward.

When that was it, he cleared his throat again. “Are you okay?”

The huge Lycanth nodded.

Wyatt sighed in relief. She had understood him. “Okay. Good. Um, did you want to change back?”

Lucy's mouth opened, then, which was alarming until she shook herself and stretched, too. Even if she was just yawning, though, Wyatt had to admit those teeth were extremely impressive. When she was done, she straightened and nodded again. Then she turned around, sat down, and a moment later he heard a faint sound like a breeze picking up. And then he couldn't see the Lycanth behind the seat anymore.

“Hey, uh, guys?” Rufus' voice called from outside. “Is everyone okay?”

“We're fine,” Lucy's voice called back. When she spoke again, her voice was quieter. “But, uh, I kind of... ran out of clothes, here.”

“Oh,” Wyatt said dumbly. Then he snapped out of it. She needed help. “Well, I don't need to wear this jacket right now. You can try it. It might be – I hope it's long enough.” He undid the buttons, shrugged it off, and laid it over the back of the chair. It disappeared from sight after that.

Meanwhile, Rufus was climbing up and into the Lifeboat. He didn't look scared, which Wyatt thought was good. He did, however, let out a low whistle as he surveyed the results of Lucy's incarceration.

A second later, Lucy stood up (on two feet this time). Wyatt's coat was, in fact, long enough to provide some cover. In another situation, Wyatt might have thought the effect was downright sexy. But any inkling in that direction flew out of the window when he looked at her face.

She was pale, and there were tears in her eyes, although she wasn't crying. “Are you two all right?” she asked, crossing her arms. Her voice sounded a little hoarse.

“We're fine,” Wyatt said quickly.

“Yeah,” Rufus added. “Are you sure you are?”

She nodded. “I'm not hurt, and I'm not lost in the forest outside one of the biggest centers of the Salem Witch hysteria right before it's supposed to start, so I guess I can't complain.” Then she took a few more steps, and her eyes fell on the Lifeboat's seats. She grimaced. “Guys, I'm so sorry. About everything. It's inexcusable for me to have lost track of – of everything, enough that I could have put you in danger, not to mention torpedoing the mission.” She blinked repeatedly, and her gaze fell. “I'd understand if you decided to tell Agent Christopher you were done, if you wanted her to find another historian who isn't going to tear up the Lifeboat – or God forbid some innocent bystander – at the wrong time of the month.”

“Lucy,” Wyatt said, moving toward her. He stopped when she flinched backward. “Lucy, no one wants to replace you.” She didn't look up, or acknowledge this. “Right, Rufus?” He turned to the pilot.

“No, we don't,” Rufus agreed. “Speaking for myself, I appreciate the apology. You did kind of freak us out, and the Lifeboat is going to need some re-upholstering. But you're our friend. We're in this together. That hasn't changed.”

“Exactly,” said Wyatt.

Lucy sniffed, and wiped a hand under her eyes, still staring at the floor. “Thank you,” she said, almost too quiet to hear. Then she looked up. “That means a lot. But, um, I should tell you not to count on that, on us continuing to work together. I mean, I'm not going to be able to hide my status once we go back. And this?” She gestured around. “They wouldn't even have to stretch to make it a fireable offense.”

“Hey,” Wyatt said. He wanted to get closer to her, make sure he could look into her eyes, but it seemed like she was still too anxious for that. “You both stood up for me when they were going to replace me. We're not just standing by and letting them fire you, either. Not for something that could have happened to anyone.” At her look, he scoffed. “Yeah, all right, not anyone, exactly, but I mean, forgetting to refill a prescription? And for all you know, that website with the phases of the moon could have gotten it wrong.”

“It never did before,” she said. But she looked a little bit less hopeless. “And it really is my responsibility not to have both my meds run out.”

“Still,” said Wyatt. “No one remembers everything, all the time.”

Lucy blew out a breath. “Maybe so. I'm still probably going to get fired. But anyway, it won't be any less true if we wait around here first.”

“And I bet I'm not the only one who's hungry,” Rufus put in.

Lucy flushed. “Yeah, uh, I should apologize about that, too. I have a pretty clear memory of eating all of our food, last night.”

Rufus shrugged. “Hey, the one undeniably good thing about going back now is there will be plenty of food, and most of it will be a lot better than the provisions we packed.”

“True,” said Lucy, coming around to sit in her usual chair. She adjusted the coat and then ran a hand through her hair.

Wyatt decided not to mention that her hair was currently more tangled and messy than he'd seen it since they had been stranded in the middle of the French and Indian War. She didn't need to worry about stuff like that right now. Hell, he guessed she already would expect it, anyway. This wasn't her first transformation. He sat down opposite her, while Rufus got into the pilot's seat. Once they were both buckled in, he announced. “We're ready.”

“All right,” said Rufus. “Then let's go.”


	2. Chapter 2

~~~~~~

Lucy went straight to her bedroom as soon as she arrived home that evening. She was utterly exhausted. Not only had she barely gotten any sleep the night before, which she never did during a full moon transformation, but then there had been the hours of grueling debrief back at Mason Industries. It probably hadn't been that long, but it had been draining. And then of course she'd had to go to the pharmacy to pick up her prescriptions. And there had been meals in there somewhere, too.

As she quickly changed into her pajamas, Lucy reflected that things could have been worse, despite all that. Wyatt and Rufus had exited the Lifeboat first, when they'd arrived, and asked for all non-essential personnel to leave before Lucy joined them. Eventually, Agent Christopher and Mason had agreed. She had decided to satisfy their curiosity (or suspicion) immediately upon exiting, leading with the fact that she was Lycanth and that the full moon on their first night in Andover had caught her off guard.

At least Agent Christopher had told them all to get showered and changed before she heard anything more. And when everyone was ready, she and Mason had listened quietly to the whole story before responding. Lucy had finished by offering to pay for any and all repairs to the Lifeboat's interior. Then, over top of Wyatt and Rufus' objections, she had also offered to resign.

“No one's resigning,” had been Agent Christopher's declaration. “And I'm not firing you, either.” She had sighed, and glanced around at the group (in which Jiya had been included, at Lucy's request). “I'll leave the issue of the repairs to the Lifeboat to Mason.”

“I tell you what,” Mason said. “I'll take it from your next check.”

This hadn't satisfied her, seeing as how she knew full well Mason wasn't the one signing her checks. “But...”

“What I think we do need, however,” Agent Christopher had continued, giving her a look, “is a way to help you make sure this doesn't happen again on a mission. My suggestion is a checklist of some kind. Maybe we can give it to Jiya, if that works for both of you.”

Jiya cleared her throat. “Sure. If you're all right with that, Lucy, I would be.”

“What kind of checklist?” Lucy had asked.

“For the lunar chart website you mentioned, and your medications,” Agent Christopher said. “I'm not thinking of making it a huge production. Just a couple of questions that Jiya can ask, very discreetly.”

“Oh,” said Lucy. She didn't exactly enjoy the idea, but it made sense. “Um. Yes, that sounds like it could be helpful.”

“Then I'll let you and Jiya work out the details. But I will be asking before your next jump, just to check that you've done it.” Agent Christopher hadn't kept the team much longer after that, and Lucy had left Mason Industries still waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Then Wyatt had caught up with her before she drove off. “Hey, Lucy!”

She turned. “What is it?”

“I just wanted to make sure you're doing all right,” he said, coming to stand in front of her parking space.

She'd wanted to snap at him, but he'd done nothing wrong or even genuinely irritating. So she'd taken a breath and let it out before telling him, “I'll be fine.”

“You're sure.” He hadn't sounded sure. “Because I think Rufus and Jiya were wanting to go out for drinks, and I thought –”

“I can't, Wyatt,” she interrupted. Her voice had quavered, but she had inhaled again and made sure that wouldn't happen before she went on in a lighter tone. “Tell them I'll take a rain check.”

He looked even more concerned, which had not been her intent. “Lucy, you know we... none of us think any different about you.”

She shook her head. “Of course you do. But that's not the issue. I trusted you before this mission, and I haven't stopped.”

“Well, good,” he'd said, with a sweet smile that still didn't erase his worry.

“It's just, this is a whole other thing for me. I need to adjust. And first, I need to – to recuperate,” she said quietly. “On my own.”

It looked like there was understanding in his eyes. “Okay. I'll tell Rufus and Jiya that you're tired, but you said 'Next time.'” Then he reached out slowly and squeezed her hand, letting go again immediately. “Have a good evening, Lucy. Call if you need anything.”

She had thanked him through the sudden lump in her throat, and then left for the pharmacy, her first stop.

Now, as she lay in bed, burrowed under the covers, Lucy admitted to herself that she did feel like she was missing out on drinks with the team. But she also still knew, as she had as soon as Wyatt made the offer, that she would have spent most of the evening feeling exposed and vulnerable, wondering what the others were thinking of her. And even though they probably would have legitimately not been thinking anything particularly negative, she really was too raw right now to handle that kind of experience. Thus the hiding now, by herself.

She did actually sleep, some, despite how early it was. Then her phone chimed, waking her out of a dream of running, free and exhilarating. Grumbling, Lucy pushed off her blanket and stretched out to pick up the phone. The text wasn't from Wyatt, as she'd half-expected it to be. No, it was her mother. “Even better,” she muttered. She supposed it was about time for one of her mother's passive aggressive 'checking in' notes.

Sure enough, the message read, _“Hi, sweetheart. Just saying hello and hoping everything's okay with my cub.”_

Lucy rolled her eyes and set the phone back down. She would reply eventually, but now was definitely not the time. She lay back down and pulled the covers up. At least her mom was still keeping within the boundaries Lucy had set up. If she'd happened to decide tonight was the night to call, for whatever reason, the 'cub' in question probably would have thrown her phone across the room.

The next time she woke up, it was for an entirely different reason. She sat up with a muffled exclamation, flinging off her blanket and turning on the light. No, she wasn't transforming. She couldn't have been, of course, since she'd renewed her Morfex and was wearing the patch at that exact moment. But it wasn't just a dream, either – she could still feel the sensation, like a ghost of what she had gone through the night before.

“What the hell?” she said to herself, standing and walking to her bathroom. She flipped on the light and took off her pajama top in front of the mirror, just to make absolutely sure there was no visible sign of transformation. And there wasn't. It was very bizarre, and disquieting. Finally, though, the sensation faded, and Lucy got dressed again with a shudder.

Heading back out to her room, Lucy sat down on her bed and put her head in her hands. Nothing like this had ever happened to her before. Part of her wanted to call her mother immediately, in hopes that she could offer reassurance that Lucy wasn't just going crazy. But that was not an option.

Now that the heat and shifting feeling was gone, Lucy felt energized. That, too, was as if she had taken her wolf form. Since actually transforming wasn't a good idea right after starting a new Morfex patch, though, she gave up on sleeping for the moment and changed clothes into something appropriate for going for a run.

Just as she was pulling her hair back into a pony tail, there was a knock at the door. Frowning, Lucy checked her phone. No texts, and it was past nine o'clock now. “Who's there?” she called out from her room.

“It's me, Lucy.” That was Wyatt's voice. “Uh, sorry for coming by so late.”

What was he doing here? She'd thought he understood that she needed time and space. Sighing, she picked up her running shoes, set them down next to the couch, and then went to unlock her door. “Hi,” she said when she opened it, and her tone was not the friendliest.

He didn't miss that, either. “Hey. Again, I'm sorry. I won't take up much of your time.”

“Wyatt, whatever this is, can't it wait until tomorrow? I don't want to talk right now. It's – that would be true for anyone, not just you.”

He nodded. “Okay. I just thought you might want this as soon as possible. I promise that's it.” He reached into his pocket and pulled something out. It was her necklace, the locket with Amy's picture in it.

Lucy couldn't hold back a tiny gasp. How had she missed that it had fallen off? “Where... why do you have it?” Realizing how that sounded, she quickly added, “I mean, thank you. You're right that I do want it. But I was just trying to figure out... was it in the Lifeboat?”

He held it out to her and nodded. As she took it and put it back on, he explained, “After you left, Mason decided he'd get started on a damage assessment. He found the necklace in a pile of shredded clothes and put two and two together. I hadn't quite left yet, so he passed it on to me to give to you. And, um, I was going to wait until tomorrow. But like I said, then I thought, what if you noticed it was gone? I didn't want you to have to be worried about it all night.”

One hand touching the locket around her neck, Lucy smiled for what felt like the first time in a while. “Thanks, Wyatt.”

“You're welcome, ma'am,” he said. Then he seemed to notice what she was wearing, and raised his eyebrows. “Hitting the gym?”

She blinked. “Oh. Um, I was going to go for a run, actually. Excess energy.”

Wyatt opened his mouth, and then shut it again. Then he took a breath and blew it out. “Okay. I won't ask if that's safe for you, since I know you can take care of yourself. Have a good run. I'll see you tomorrow, Lucy.”

He turned to go. Surprising herself, Lucy spoke before he'd taken more than a step. “You want to come with me?”

He faced her. “I thought you wanted to be alone.”

“I said I don't want to go be sociable,” she pointed out. “Running doesn't require that. Or if you'd rather go home, that's fine.”

“No, I'm not exactly tired yet, either,” said Wyatt. “Let's go.”

“Let me just put on my shoes, first,” she said, and hurried to do so.

There was a bike path within walking distance that Lucy had used for jogging several times, so she led the way without speaking. Wyatt seemed fine with this, although he did ask before they'd left her apartment building if she didn't want to bring a music player. “No, I'd rather just take in everything I can hear,” she'd said, hoping that wasn't too weird of an answer. He'd just nodded, which was fine with her.

“Oh, I didn't think,” she said, as they rounded the corner to the start of the path. “It's not very well-lit. That doesn't bother me, but I don't know what it will be like for you.”

“I appreciate the warning,” Wyatt told her, “but I should be fine. My night vision's pretty decent.”

“Good.” They started their circuit. Lucy was, of course, not at all surprised that Wyatt was in good shape. She knew he was. He was a soldier on active duty. After a while, though, she thought he might be surprised at how easily she kept up the pace she'd started.

And, in fact, when he finally he broke the silence again, it was to say, “You've been holding out on me. Which, okay, I knew that, but do you even need a soldier on these missions? Next thing you're going to tell me you have firearms and combat training.” He wasn't winded, she noted.

Lucy scoffed. “Ha ha. I definitely do _not_ have that experience. I think we established that in Germany.”

She glanced over to see him nod. “Yeah. Fair enough. But it seems like there have to have been times where you were, well, pretending to be less strong than you are.”

“I've had lots of practice fitting in,” she said. “Though I also have to point out that most of the women's fashions of history do not lend themselves to intense physical exercise.”

He huffed a laugh. “Ah. Can't argue with you there.” Then he let the conversation drop again, though she thought he looked like he was curious to ask more.

Quite apart from the exercise, which was a perfect antidote to her restless energy, the night air was as soothing as it usually was. This wasn't the best place to get 'back to nature' – it was still in the city – but it was always nice, nonetheless. And, though she hadn't known what to expect this time, Wyatt joining her hadn't changed that. In fact, she was enjoying herself more than usual. There were a lot of possible reasons for that, but she decided she wouldn't try to push it, for the moment.

They finished one loop, and Lucy paused at the entrance, stretching.

“How are you doing?” Wyatt asked, also taking the time to stretch.

“I'm fine. Ready to go again,” she told him.

“You sure?”

She just raised her eyebrows, then took off again. Granted, it did make sense to slow down this time around, but she was only just starting to deplete her excess energy. And whether or not Wyatt was tired, he certainly wasn't showing it. He caught up with her after just a few paces.

“Do you do this often?” Wyatt asked, after another few minutes.

Lucy considered just saying “no”, but eventually she said, “Not very often. Not like this.” Then she added, “Actually, this has been a weird night. I woke up feeling like – like I did last night. But then nothing happened, other than that feeling. But that's part of why I needed to get some exercise.”

“Huh,” said Wyatt. “Sounds... uncomfortable.”

“It was,” she said.

A minute later, he said, “Obviously you don't have to answer, but why do you think that happened to you?”

“I don't know,” she said. “I guess it has to have something to do with transforming last night, but that doesn't explain anything. I've never had anything like that before.”

Neither of them spoke for several more minutes. Then Wyatt cleared his throat. “Stop me if this sounds stupid, but is there any chance it has to do with going from somewhere where it's the full moon to somewhere it's not?”

“Hmm,” said Lucy. She pondered this. “I guess that's possible.” Then she sighed. If that was true, she might have this to look forward to tomorrow night, as well.

Just as she had finished that thought, Wyatt said, “So you might have to deal with it again tomorrow? Is that right?”

“Yeah.” And since when was he so knowledgeable about Lycanth, anyway? She didn't ask, because it would have sounded snippy. She had no desire to fight. That would take way too much effort, when she hadn't even wanted to have a conversation.

“Well, let me know if you end up wanting a jogging partner again, then,” he said, after a while.

She found herself smiling again. “I'll do that.”

They didn't speak again until they had finished their second circuit. “All right, well, I think I'll call it a night,” she said, stretching. She felt pleasantly tired.

Wyatt nodded, mirroring her movements. “Sounds good.”

With a smirk, she asked, “Why, were you worried about keeping up if I went around again?”

He gave her an exaggerated look of offense, and then rolled his eyes. “I just meant, we should both get some sleep.”

“Uh huh,” she said, pretending skepticism. "Good night."


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This un-cancellation thing makes me smile every single time I think of it! Yay, Timeless!!!

~~~~~~

Their missions continued almost the same way they had been, after Lucy's accidental revelation. Lucy and Jiya did go over the checklist Agent Christopher had suggested, every time. But that was pretty discreet, like the agent had described it. The Mason Industries people who hadn't been in that debrief probably didn't even notice anything.

And after some initial awkwardness, the three of them regained their good team relationship. After all, they still worked together in the same way. The fact that Lucy was a Lycanth didn't really impact that.

Or at least, Lucy didn't think she'd noticed much impact until this mission. Granted, anyone could see that neither she nor Wyatt were in the best frame of mind during their trip into the Old West. Her dream about Amy had shaken her and reminded her just how alone she was in this timeline, as well as how little she'd done to bring her sister back. And Wyatt was understandably fixated on this man, apparently the one who had murdered his wife. Probably none of them should have even been cleared to come, with the state they were in. Even Rufus had admitted the hard time he was still having, dealing with having killed that man back in Houston.

Still, they were at least moving forward with the mission in a way that seemed to make sense until they started to catch up with Flynn and Jesse James. That was when she first caught that fateful scent. For one heart-stopping moment, she'd thought it was Amy. Never mind that her appearing in this location at this time was completely impossible. But after another inhalation, Lucy realized it wasn't her. It was another female Lycanth, though, and this woman was undeniably related to Lucy.

That had been about when she'd told Wyatt he had to stay put while she went on ahead. She could stand to tell him that they were approaching another Lycanth, but she couldn't bring herself to tell him the other fact she knew. It just made so little sense. She needed to have a better handle on it before she talked about it with anyone else.

So she set off, in full hunting mode, to try to find out more information. All her instincts were telling her that she was invading another adult Lycanth's territory at night, and that this wasn't a good idea. But Flynn had come all the way out here for a reason, and they all weren't just going to turn back now. So it was up to her to make sure her team – not to mention the actual Lone Ranger – didn't get attacked by this person.

And on that note... Lucy paused, sighing to herself. She could both hear and smell Wyatt behind her, along with Rufus, Reeves, and Grant. Of course they hadn't just stopped. She'd have to give them more, convince them of the danger of just continuing to blunder on. She turned around and crept back toward them.

“Wyatt!” she hissed, as soon as she was close enough. Then she stepped into view. “I told you to stay put for a reason.” She had no desire to let the other two men in on her secret, but there wasn't time for her to say all this in code. Besides, none of them would ever see Reeves or Grant again, after this mission was over. “You aren't ready to deal with this. Let me at least find out if she's actually here before you all just go waltzing any further into her territory.”

“Her 'territory'? What are you talking about?” Reeves said.

“I don't know who this woman is,” Lucy said. That was mostly true, although it wasn't the whole story. She took a breath. “But I do know for a fact that she's...” She reconsidered before continuing. The term 'Lycanth' hadn't even been coined yet in this period, which left her with only options that were considered derogatory in the modern era. “A werewolf.”

Reeves and Grant stared at her as the others looked shocked and uncomfortable, too. The marshal finally spoke. “You know this for a fact? Because I can only think of one way that would be possible, since up until now you all seemed to not have any idea what it is we're coming out here for.”

Lucy nodded, and raised her chin. “Yes. So listen to me when I tell you: you have to stop. If she's here somewhere, then you all have a lot more to worry about than Jesse James or Flynn.” She only hoped this woman hadn't already detected them.

Wyatt was frowning. She knew he wouldn't find it easy to stay back while she took on the most risk. But when he spoke, it wasn't to object. “How soon can you know if this woman's still around?”

“It shouldn't take long at all,” said Lucy. “If I'm not back in five minutes, something's wrong. And in that case, you should probably just get out of here.”

“You have to know there's not a chance I'll do that,” Wyatt told her predictably. “Or any of us.”

Well, she'd tried. She blew out a breath. “Anyway, I'm going.” At least she wouldn't have to answer Reeves' questions right away.

As the scent got stronger, Lucy could also tell Flynn and Jesse James had been here quite recently. On the other hand, none of the scents seemed to suggest anyone still present. Of all them, in fact, James seemed to have left the latest. She had no idea what that meant. Why would Flynn and James have parted company here?

However, what she could tell the closer she got was that this Lycanth woman was definitely a blood relative of hers. And though the information wasn't specific enough for her to be sure, she had a strong feeling there was a reason beside the dream she'd had last night that she'd originally mistaken the scent for Amy's: it really seemed like this woman was related to her through her mother.

How that was possible, Lucy still didn't know. Was there any chance someone else had time-traveled here, before Flynn and before them? And how in the world could that person be related to her? One thing she was sure of was that it was no coincidence. It couldn't be.

All that was in her mind as the cabin came into view ahead of her. The building was empty, thankfully. There was no guarantee that kinship would keep this woman from wanting to attack. Suddenly, Lucy stopped dead as she followed this train of thought to its logical conclusion. These were the facts: she was currently in 1882. So was Flynn. It seemed like he had come here for this woman. This woman who was a blood relative of Lucy, and of Lucy's mother.

Lucy found herself with her hands on her knees, bending forward and trying to breathe before she passed out. This had to do with Rittenhouse. It was the only answer that made sense. Flynn wouldn't be here for this woman, otherwise. Which meant she, herself, had family ties to Rittenhouse. Maybe even through her mother.

_No_. No, that wasn't possible. Her mother was pushy, and had her schemes, and definitely thought her ideas were the best way for everyone. But she was also loving and protective. She cared about her family's welfare, and that of her pack. And even in this timeline, without Amy, she'd allowed her eldest daughter to leave the pack without totally severing the relationship. Obviously neither version of her had been happy about Lucy's decision, but she'd allowed it. She must have made sure all the other pack members gave her space, as well, since none of them had bothered Lucy. No, her mother couldn't be part of something so evil.

Lucy wasn't exactly convinced by her own arguments. But she still had a job to do at the moment. She had to make sure the scene was all clear, and then she could go back and get Wyatt and the others. She could try to wrap her mind around this later. She hoped.

Seeing various items inside the cabin that had clearly come from the present wasn't a huge surprise, since she'd already guessed there had to be more time travel involved here. So Lucy quickly scoped out the place. Then she hurried back to the others. She'd have to figure out how to tell Wyatt and Rufus her new theory about Rittenhouse too, though the idea didn't appeal to her at all.

Of course, by the time there had been a shootout, costing Grant his life, and by the time she'd made the decision to shoot Jesse James herself, starting a conversation about her suspicions of her family wasn't much of a priority. Which wasn't to say she'd forgotten. In fact, in the back of her mind on the way back to the Lifeboat, Lucy caught herself wondering if there was some inherent viciousness in her, after all. She'd long since rejected even the 'enlightened' version of that common Lycanth mindset: that their wilder instincts required regular, violent release, even if it was just hunting animals. But maybe it was true.

Some part of her recognized the flaw in that logic immediately. Rufus himself had reminded them earlier that he'd taken a life. She remembered quite clearly the conversation she'd had with him after they'd gotten back, how he'd wondered what he was becoming. Now they'd both made choices that had resulted in a man's death. Granted, the situations were different. But Lucy, too, had thought before she acted. She had wanted to protect history, and other innocent lives.

Lucy rubbed her hands across her face. She was tired of arguing with herself. It would probably make her feel less crazy if she had someone else to discuss this with. Unfortunately, even if she'd felt excited about bringing all this up with Wyatt or Rufus, it wouldn't even be that simple. There was a lot of backstory they'd need to hear first, and the idea of revealing so much of the part of her life that she didn't share with anyone was enough to make her want to run and hide.

As they got back to the Lifeboat, though, Lucy allowed herself to fully realize that it would probably be irresponsible not to share her speculations about Rittenhouse and her family. (Musings on the nature of Lycanth were not as urgent.) They all needed any edge they could get against Rittenhouse. Which would mean telling not just her team, but Agent Christopher as well.

“You going to be all right, Lucy?” Wyatt asked, as he helped her up through the door.

She swallowed. “Uh. I don't know. I think so.”

“You did what had to be done,” he told her. “I know that doesn't make it feel good, but it's something.”

Nodding, she entered the machine and sat down. “Yeah.”

Late that night, after she'd stayed up until past eleven without the slightest desire to sleep, Lucy gave up on wanting to go to bed and picked up her phone. Before she could convince herself not to, she dialed Wyatt's number. “Hey, I hope I didn't wake you up.”

“No, not at all,” he said. To her puzzlement, she could hear other voices talking in the background. He cleared his throat. “What's up?”

“Where are you?” she asked.

There was a pause, and then he gave the name of a bar and grill they'd gone to as a team a few times. “Rufus is here, too,” he added, almost reluctantly.

“Okay, what am I missing?” she said, heart rate speeding up. Why hadn't she been invited to this?

He sighed. “I was planning to come by and tell you in a little bit. But I had to talk to Rufus first. I, uh, didn't want to drag you out of bed if nothing was happening.”

Lucy stood and began looking for her shoes. “I wasn't in bed. I haven't been asleep. And I'm definitely coming out there, if there's something going on I should know about.”

“Fine,” he said. “Wait, what were you calling about? Are you okay?”

“I'm fine,” she told him, although that was an overstatement. “I have something I need to tell you two, something I realized today. So it looks like we might be in for a long night.”

He paused again. “Then we'll see you in a few minutes.”

Lucy honestly had no idea what to expect when she pulled into the parking lot of the place where Rufus and Wyatt had already been meeting for who knew how long. Before calling, she'd thought she only had to be nervous about what she would be sharing. But now she couldn't decide which she should be more worried about: her issue, or whatever theirs was.

So, taking a deep breath, Lucy walked into the bar. The place wasn't packed, exactly, but it wasn't empty either. Rufus and Wyatt were in the same area where the three of them had sat a few times before. Lucy met their eyes and then headed over. Wyatt seemed preoccupied, she saw, but it was Rufus' clear anxiety that alarmed her.

“Hey,” said Wyatt, scooting so she could sit next to him in the booth.

“Hi,” she said, swallowing. “So. Who gets to go first, here?”

“Well, my story won't take very long, though it is important,” said Wyatt. “I don't know whether that mean my turn comes first or not.”

So it was all his story? Lucy glanced at Rufus again. Just his? “Uh, well, mine is not short. I'll have to give you some context, first. But I also don't want to lose my nerve.”

Wyatt gave her a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. “I get that. Let me just make it quick, so we aren't all out until all hours of the morning: I want to steal the Lifeboat and save Jessica. And Rufus is going to help.”

Lucy stared for what had to be a full minute without responding. When she felt like she had breath, she managed, “What?” Looking from one of them to the other, she added, “Do you know how much trouble you'll be in?”

“I'm going to make it look like I'm forcing Rufus to do it. So he'll be fine,” said Wyatt, as if that solved all of the issues.

“But... they'll kick you off the team, at least. Probably arrest you,” she said, past a throat that felt thick all of a sudden.

“Whatever happens, it'll be worth it, to have Jessica back,” he told her firmly. There was no doubt in his voice.

The lump in her throat got bigger, and to her horror, tears threatened in her eyes. She didn't even had the right to feel like this. Of course he wanted to save his wife. She couldn't blame him for that. Quickly, she rubbed her hands across her face, willing herself not to break down.

“Are you okay?” he asked softly.

She cleared her throat. “Yeah.” Taking a deep breath, she said, “What do you need from me?”

Rufus scoffed. “If you think anything about this is okay, Wyatt...”

“I'm not asking you to do anything, Lucy,” Wyatt cut in, with a sharp glance at Rufus. “You can plead ignorance when we do this. Or not. I just know I couldn't do it without telling you, first.”

Now she really wanted to cry. She nodded, biting her lip. “Well, good luck.” Did it even make sense to tell him about the woman at the cabin today, or about her mother? It sounded like they were planning to do this right away, in which case his days of worrying about Rittenhouse were about to be over. Meanwhile, it looked like she would never have that same chance in her life. Rufus still needed to know about her new theory, but maybe she should just wait until the fallout was over. She started to stand up to go.

“Can I get you anything?” The waitress seemed to have appeared out of nowhere.

Lucy flinched. She had no desire to order anything. What she wanted to do now was leave – and then try to figure out how she would possibly readjust to a life where Wyatt would necessarily play a much smaller role, or maybe even not be in it at all.

“I think we're all right for now,” Rufus was saying, with a strained but polite smile.

“All right. Just let me know,” the woman said, and moved toward another booth.

“I should go,” Lucy muttered, reaching for her purse.

“Wait, no,” said Wyatt. “You said you had something important to talk to us about.”

“I did,” she said. “But I guess it's not anything you have to worry about, now.”

“Lucy, I – that's not what I wanted,” Wyatt said, shaking his head.

“I know,” she told him. “But you're saying goodbye, aren't you?” She was proud of herself, that the words came out calm, not accusing. He didn't answer immediately. Rufus stayed silent, as well. “Goodbye, Wyatt. And I mean it – good luck to you.” She stood, and picked up her purse. “Rufus, I guess I'll see you later. Be safe.”

She left the restaurant as quickly as she could without running. If either Rufus or Wyatt called out for her to stop, she didn't hear. She didn't really want to hear, anyway.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for any geographic inaccuracies in this section - I haven't spent much time in the SF area. Hopefully it makes enough sense as I've written it.

As Lucy climbed back into her car, blinking back tears, she realized that she really didn't want to go home right now. She could easily foresee herself lying in bed, her brain refusing to shut off, worrying over what was happening to her teammates and what would happen next. What she needed, instead, was time spent away from everything – preferably in wolf form. That would be the best way to really get out of her head for a while.

She found the bottle of Lupinox in her purse and swallowed one before starting the car and pulling out of the parking lot. It was a good thing she always had those on hand; she wanted to stay in control when she changed.

As she drove, though, she realized that just because she'd decided she needed this didn't mean the idea would be as easy as it once had been for her. She wasn't part of her mother's pack anymore, so their hunting grounds were off limits to her. There were a few state parks within driving distance. However, technically, it would be trespassing there, too, if she went after dark.

But she had to go somewhere. And even if no one were to spot her in her old pack's territory tonight, her scent would still be all too detectable there afterward. Wiping the tears that refused to stop falling, Lucy made up her mind. It was reckless, and not very smart. Yet she didn't feel like she had a choice.

So, thankful that she'd gotten gas just a day ago, Lucy put Portola Redwoods State Park into her GPS and started out. She'd have to find somewhere to leave her car outside the park and out of sight. This was a reckless trip, yes, but she could do her best to avoid getting her car towed while trespassing on state land. Sniffing, she turned on the radio to NPR and let herself be distracted.

About fifteen minutes later, as she was leaving the city limits, her phone rang. With one hand, she checked the screen. Wyatt. She rejected the call. “Sorry, Wyatt,” she said under her breath. It wasn't that she was angry – well, she was angry, but not that furious. She did understand. She just couldn't talk to him at the moment.

A minute after that, she got a text. Wyatt again. “ _Hey, just let me know when you get home, okay?_ ”

She snorted. That would be a while. Maybe not until the next morning.

Rufus texted next. All he said was, “ _You okay?_ ”

She didn't answer that one, either, partly because she was traveling at highway speed. But just a little bit later, when a short interval of road construction slowed her down, she picked up the phone again to send him a reply. “ _I'm fine. Just trying to clear my head. Don't worry about me. You take care of yourself._ ”

He responded immediately. “ _I will. I'll see you when I see you, then._ ”

She sighed as the road ahead cleared. They were really going to do this. Of the two crazy actions that all the members of their team were taking right now, hers didn't even compare to theirs.

The rest of the drive was uneventful. When the GPS told her that she was just a few miles from the park, she slowed. There were hardly any other cars on this road at this hour. So, when she was as sure as possible that no one was around to see, she found a spot, carefully pulled off the road, and switched off her headlights. Then she drove a little further off the road along the uneven ground, until she thought the car would be less likely to be spotted by passersby.

Shutting off the ignition, Lucy got out of the car to check it out for herself. From the side of the road, she could still see light glinting off the tail lights. There were bushes and trees around, though, so she made use of some branches to disguise the car's more visible features. Then she scuffed up any tire tracks that she could see.

Satisfied with her efforts, she went back to the car and got into the back seat this time. Before anything else, she turned off her phone. It would be pointless to leave it on, just draining the battery, for the next while. That done, she got undressed, took off her Morfex patch, and transformed.

Unlike the last time, there was no pain involved. The heat and shifting happened quickly and smoothly, and then she was in her wolf form. The back seat was now much too small for comfort, so she pulled the handle to open the door and jumped out. Then she reared up and pushed it shut again.

At last, she was outside. It had been too long since she'd had the chance to run outside, at night, in wolf form. Keeping parallel with the road, but not close enough to be seen, Lucy set off toward the state park. As she was now, there was so much information to be gathered, just through her own senses: the sounds of nocturnal animals nearby and the distant traffic, and all the scents of creatures and people who had passed near this way. Her vision was less acute, but as usual she found she didn't mind, with what she gained.

Even at a moderate pace, it didn't take long before she could tell by the denseness of the forest that she must have reached the park boundaries. She slowed. This was perfect. She could feel her anxiety decreasing. All she had to do was make sure she was never in sight of anyone else – did park rangers work at night? She couldn't remember – and this would be exactly what she needed.

For at least an hour, she simply walked through the woods, taking in all the scents, sounds, and sights. Most wild animals kept a significant distance between themselves and a transformed Lycanth, but Lucy wasn't interested in hunting, anyway. The exploration was enough, for the moment.

As she continued to explore, though, a new scent gave her pause. There was a cougar somewhere close. A male, she thought. Of all the animals she could run across here, cougars were the only ones that could be dangerous to her right now. She was downwind from it, so it shouldn't have noticed her yet. She could just go a different route.

Or... another breath informed her of two things: first, the cougar was a juvenile, so he wouldn't be big enough to challenge her. Secondly, he had brought down a young deer (he must have startled it awake), and was currently eating it. And the smell of the fresh kill made her lick her lips.

She didn't want to poach animals from state land, but this one was already dead. She was hungry, even though she'd had a decent dinner. It wasn't like she was actually going to hurt the cougar, either. She shouldn't have to.

Thus decided, she moved forward confidently, not caring now if the animal noticed her. Very quickly, it did. There was a feline growl. Lucy answered immediately with a canine one of her own, which was louder. She stalked toward it, growling the whole time.

When the cat came into view, it was already scared. She could tell it didn't want to back down, but it was very much aware that she was bigger and stronger. Ears back, it hissed, stepping back. She responded by snarling and coming at it, stiff-legged, hackles raised, using every trick to make herself look even more intimidating.

Hissing again, the cougar retreated once more. Lucy moved until she was standing over the deer carcass. Then she barked, continuing to growl and bare her teeth. When she made as if to charge at the cat, that was the final straw. With a final angry yowl, the cougar turned and ran.

Lucy waited until it was gone, and then settled down to her purloined meal. She made short work of it, then cracked the larger bones to reach the marrow inside, as well. It had been a while since she'd eaten in her wolf form, but it was mostly an instinctive process, anyway. As she finished, she shook off memories of the jubilant atmosphere of dinners she had once shared with the pack. Then she cleaned herself off as best as she could.

By now she was starting to feel sleepy. If she could find a somewhat sheltered place, a few hours of sleep would do her good. The first possibility she found smelled like it was used by one of the foxes that lived in the park. There was no need to force it to find another place. She moved on.

Finally, though, she found an area beneath a fallen redwood log that was both the right size and had no other occupants. She ducked down under it, then walked in a tight circle before laying down, curled up. Once again, she had to tell herself not to think about how she would have once been settling down in a real den with her fellow pack members. But this was fine. The night was cool, but not cold enough to penetrate her thick fur. She was comfortably full, and it was late. Or early, as the case might be. Either way, it was time to rest.

The next thing Lucy knew, there was daylight filtering down through the canopy. It wasn't much past dawn, but something had woken her. Then she heard it again. A human voice. Male, speaking at a normal volume – and not very far away. Quickly, she got up and out from under the log. She shook herself all over and then vacated the area, moving at a trot.

She needed to make her way back to her car. And she really needed to do that without a park ranger trying to capture or shoot her. Thankfully, her wolf form had a pretty good sense of direction (which she had often wished was as strong in her human form). So she made sure the sun was in the right position relative to where she needed to go, and pointed herself in the right direction.

To her dismay, however, the man she'd heard earlier now seemed to be following her. Or at least she continued to be able to hear him, and catch his scent. This was bad. Whether he just thought he was tracking a fox, or what his reason was, she didn't know. Either way, he wasn't being extremely subtle, which she assumed he might if he knew he was tracking someone who could understand human speech and use reason to react to threats.

Despite her unease, she couldn't pick up her pace, or she would risk being seen. So she kept moving cautiously, all senses tuned to the man behind her. For a while, they stayed roughly the same distance away from each other. That lasted long enough for Lucy to be absolutely sure it was her that he was tracking. She cursed her thoughtless decision last night to wander this far into the park.

Then, to her further alarm, she came up suddenly on a ravine. It wasn't incredibly steep – she knew she could get down. But doing so would expose her position to an extent that was unacceptable. With a sigh, she resigned herself to drawing this out by going around the obstacle.

Of course, cutting across at a right angle to the course she had been following also meant she wasn't traveling directly away from the ranger for a while. And he didn't notice her change of direction right away, but it only took him a few minutes. He would probably guess that she was avoiding the ravine. If she didn't hurry, he might be able to cut her off.

Given that, Lucy decided it was time to speed up. For a minute or so, that seemed to be fine. She felt like she might be regaining ground. But then she heard a shout. The first time, it sounded like a wordless exclamation. After that, though, the man called, “Hey, you! I know you're a Lycanth, and that means you're trespassing on state land! Stop!”

This was it. This was the worst case scenario. Lucy threw caution to the wind and started to run flat-out. She had no desire to see if this ranger would actually treat her as a human criminal, or if he assumed she was a bloodthirsty beast.

“Stop!” he yelled again, though she could hear that she was pulling away from him.

Then there was a crack that seemed insanely loud, and something whizzed past her. Well, there was her answer: he was shooting at her. Frantically, she tried for a zigzag pattern as she ran, sticking as low to the ground as she could while still keeping up her speed.

When the ranger fired again, she felt the bullet inches from her head. For the first time, she fully realized that she might die. Oh, God, she could die without even knowing what had happened to Wyatt and Rufus after they'd stolen the Lifeboat. Maybe all three of them had been equally foolhardy tonight, after all.

In desperation, she put on a burst of speed and dove to the left. That was the exact moment that the ranger fired another shot. She yelped as pain scored along her left side, just above her hip. For a moment, she stumbled, and thought that might be the end. But somehow she forced herself back to her feet and kept running, hampered though she was by the agony in her lower left side.

A Lycanth in wolf form was strong, though. The myths about silver bullets took it too far, but the grain of truth in them was that they didn't die easily. Lucy focused on continuing forward, ignoring everything else. No further shot came, or if it did, it must have missed badly.

She had no idea how much longer she'd run before she realized that she couldn't hear any pursuit anymore. And the trees were thinning. She might have already left the park, she thought, in deep relief. The pain of her bullet wound was worse, but she couldn't stop to tend to it until she was sure she was out of immediate danger.

Still, at least she could slow a little, put a little less strain on it. And maybe the only positive thing about this ranger's bigotry was that there was a high chance he wouldn't want to get close enough to her blood to track her that way. Never mind that she would have had to purposefully bleed onto an open wound of his in order for there to be any danger of spreading the Lycanth virus through her blood. Anyone who would shoot to kill at her wolf form probably didn't care about those details.

About ten minutes later, the pain was too strong to ignore anymore. Lucy limped to the shelter of a tree and sat. There was still no sign of pursuit. When she turned around to look, the amount of blood was both not as bad as she'd feared, and still enough for a pit to open in her stomach. Gingerly, she reached to clean it, although even that light pressure caused her to whine completely involuntarily.

Once she had done as much as she could, though, the bleeding seemed a little slower. There was no bullet in the wound – she was certain of that. That didn't mean she would absolutely be all right, but it had to be a good thing. So. If she could make it back to her car, assuming it hadn't been towed, she could use her phone to get help.

Of course, she thought, as she forced herself to stand and get moving again despite the agony that caused, she would have to transform to human in order to use her phone. And the chances were high that she'd feel a lot worse when she did that. Plus, who would she call? Not 9-1-1. That went without saying. Agent Christopher, maybe? She knew if she called her mother, she would get help. But given what she thought she knew about her mother, that was even less of an option than usual.

Sighing, and then wincing when the heavy breath gave her an extra pang, Lucy thought Agent Christopher might be safest. If she could stand to be in human form long enough to make the call. She knew for a fact that she would be shifting back into wolf form as soon as she was done with that task. It was the best way to speed up her healing.

She was extremely relieved when she saw her car in the same spot she had left it. The relief faded when she remembered that it was locked, and therefore she'd have to transform in order to get in, much less make a phone call. First, however, she retraced her steps to where she'd buried the keys under a nearby rock. That, too, had been dicey, but she had figured it was better than just leaving the car unlocked with the keys in the visor, or something.

They were still there, though. So once she'd brought them back over next to the driver's side door and set them on the ground, Lucy braced herself and then transformed. She had to concentrate hard not to scream as the change happened. As she'd expected, the pain of the bullet was much worse in this form.

Her hands shook as she unlocked the car, and her breaths came in short, sharp gasps. Climbing in, she almost just collapsed. But then she closed the door behind her, grabbed her coat from the back seat, and pressed it into the long, deep gash at her side. Then, falling into the driver's seat, she scrabbled for her phone with the hand not currently holding the cloth to her wound.

It seemed to take forever to turn on. When it had, she saw that she had at least six missed calls from Christopher, and a few from Jiya. Nothing from Rufus or Wyatt, though. She swallowed. Then she dialed the agent, closing her eyes as the phone rang.

“Lucy, where the hell have you been?” was the first thing Agent Christopher said.

“I... I've been shot,” Lucy managed. Of course she probably had wanted to know what Lucy knew about Wyatt and Rufus' crazy scheme. Disappearing had not been the least suspicious thing she could have done in this situation.

“What?” There was some rustling on the other end. “Where are you? Is it serious? Are you in danger now?”

“I'm just outside Portola Redwoods State Park,” Lucy said. “I don't think it hit any vital organs, but, uh, it's still bleeding pretty badly.”

“Have you called an ambulance? The police?”

“No,” said Lucy, trying to hold back a moan. “It was a park ranger who shot me. I didn't... don't want the attention. I don't think he's still following me, though.”

Christopher paused for a few seconds. “I think I understand, though I'll be needing a lot more information later. I can send you someone trustworthy right away. But you know it's not a short distance. I don't want you to bleed out before help even gets there.”

“I know. Um, I'll... change. That should help.” She was ready to hang up and do that immediately, actually.

“Oh. Right,” said the other woman. “Then I'll just say I'm sorry I can't come myself. Things are... complicated, here. But I'll vouch for the agents I send. I assume you're all right with me telling them exactly what to expect.”

Lucy sighed. “Yes.” She definitely didn't want to surprise any armed government agents. Or, rather, any more of them than she already had today.

“All right. Good luck, Lucy. I hope I'll see you soon,” said Agent Christopher.

“Me, too,” said Lucy, and disconnected the call. She groaned, setting down the phone, and then forced herself upright so she could move to the back seat. Her head was spinning, and she couldn't really feel her legs, which made even that short movement difficult. But eventually, she crouched down across the seat and then transformed.

The pain eased dramatically. Just as she was about to relax, maybe see if she could get some sleep, though, something occurred to her. The last Lupinox she'd taken had to have been more than six hours ago. These were strangers who were coming to find her, and she'd be tense already from having been injured. It was best that she be as prepared as possible.

So, with a grumble under her breath, she became human again and reached for her purse. By the time she'd swallowed the dose, she could tell she was close to passing out. But she successfully regained her wolf form and clambered onto the seat. Again, the pain was less, but now she was utterly exhausted.

As she started to fall into unconsciousness, it came to her that she hadn't exactly explained where her car was, that it was hidden. But then, it was daylight now. Hopefully the agents would find her before state patrol or anyone else.

She had no sense of how much time had passed when she was once again awakened by the sound of nearby human voices. Despite the adrenaline that brought with it, alertness was not easy to reach. With some effort, though, she made herself sit up and try to find out who was coming.

From what she could tell, there were several people approaching. They seemed calm enough, which suggested that they knew what to expect. Still, Lucy hoped one of them would give some sort of clear sign that these were the people Agent Christopher had sent.

“There she is,” said the one who was closest then, a woman. She walked around the car until she was in front of the rear driver's side window, where she could look Lucy in the eye. “Ma'am, are you Lucy Preston?”

Lucy nodded.

“I'm Special Agent Rhonda Seale,” the woman said. “Agent Christopher sent us to find you and get you back to Mason Industries, so you can receive treatment for a bullet wound. We're not going to ask you to transform, but please nod if you understand and agree.”

Lucy nodded again.

“Thank you.” The agent turned and spoke to one of the others. “Rogers, can we get that stretcher over here?”

A stretcher? Lucy whined softly. Most stretchers were not designed with Lycanth in mind – and she wasn't going to be able to lie on her side, anyway. Stiffly, Lucy tried to stand. Between the tightness of the space and the pain from her wound, though, she didn't have much success.

“Hold on, ma'am,” said Agent Seale. “Let us help you.” She opened the door as two agents brought a stretcher over.

To her relief, Lucy saw that this was not the normal kind. It was wider, for one thing, and looked like it would allow her to lie on her front, as she was right now. It also looked more padded than she had been fearing.

“Okay,” said Agent Seale, looking slightly uncertain for the first time. “If we hold this steady right next to the door, will that be good enough? We don't want you to fall.”

Lucy nodded, though she wasn't actually sure it would work. But she also understood that it was awkward, having these people she didn't even know contemplate trying to physically support her. So she struggled to her feet, doing her best not to claw the car upholstery too much. It already had enough issues now with her blood all over it, she thought grimly.

Then, very slowly and unsteadily, she took a few steps forward. The stretcher was level with the seat, and there were now three agents holding it, so now was as good a time as any. Gingerly, she moved one paw to the soft surface. When she put more of her weight on it, the agents held it firm.

Of course, moving her hindquarters at all was a lot more painful. She was panting by the time she had made the transfer, and it was only sheer self-control that prevented her from moaning or whimpering or anything else that she was pretty sure would sound especially pathetic in wolf form. She laid her head down between her front paws and closed her eyes.

“All right, let's get going,” she heard Agent Seale say. “Ms. Preston, I have one more question for you.”

Reluctantly, Lucy opened her eyes again.

“Do you mind if I have one of my agents drive your car back?”

Oh. That was probably a good idea. Lucy raised her head so she could nod, then lay down again, eyes closing of their own accord. She didn't open them when the stretcher was placed into the back of what must have been a very large vehicle. Nor did she react when someone told her that they were going to put in an IV. In fact, whatever happened after that, Lucy missed it, having finally allowed herself to really sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

~~~~~~

“Lucy,” someone was saying. “Lucy, I wouldn't bother you, but there's a lot going on here and we need to talk.”

She knew that voice. With difficulty, she forced her eyes open. Agent Christopher was standing over her where she lay. It wasn't until she'd made a questioning sound instead of asking what was happening that Lucy remembered that she was still in wolf form. For a moment, she wondered with a kind of sinking feeling how many people now knew about her status. But then she dismissed that issue. There were bigger things to worry about.

The agent smiled briefly. She didn't seem uncomfortable at all, which in Lucy's experience was unusual. “The agents I sent told me you either passed out or fell asleep after they found you. That would mean you've been asleep for around four and a half hours now.”

Lucy sat up slowly. She was on what looked like a regular hospital bed, although there was only a bottom sheet. When she craned her neck to look, she saw a large bandage affixed to the area near her left hip. There was no blood on the bandage. And she wasn't in pain, although that might have had something to do with the IV that was attached to her right front leg. She recognized her own location as the infirmary at Mason Industries.

“The doctor said you're healing well already,” said Agent Christopher. “He said it looked like there was some infection when you arrived, but it's already looking better.”

Lucy nodded. She felt well enough that she wanted to be able to actually speak. So, first she pointed at the IV with her nose, and then met the woman's eyes. Then, though her thoughts were not as sharp as she'd prefer them to be, she concentrated so that her left front leg started to transform (along with other areas more slowly, since that was as precise as she could get), before reversing the process again.

Agent Christopher raised her eyebrows. “You're ready to change back? Is that what you're saying?”

Lucy nodded again. She was looking forward to being able to communicate in other ways – using only gestures was already getting tiresome.

“Good,” she said. “I was hoping you were. Let me go get the doctor.”

The man who came in introduced himself as Dr. Edwards and then confirmed that Lucy wanted to be able to transform. Once she'd nodded yet again to that question, he put on a pair of gloves and carefully removed the IV from her leg. Lucy winced a little when she saw the spot where her fur had been shaved. Hopefully it would grow back quickly.

Then Dr. Edwards told her, “All right. We're all set here. Let me get you some scrubs, and then we'll give you your privacy for a minute. Let me know when you're done. Does that sound all right?”

It did, and Lucy nodded her assent. As soon as he'd provided her with clothing and left, closing the door, Lucy closed her eyes and concentrated. The change was painful, but not nearly as bad as it had been at the car. She sat up with a groan, and then looked down at her side. The bandage didn't fit as well anymore, of course. She'd have to ask Dr. Edwards for a new one, most likely.

Still, standing up to put on the scrubs didn't feel too awful. Her Lycanth fast healing wasn't something she'd had much opportunity to test before – and she wouldn't be looking forward to doing it again anytime soon – but she was definitely grateful for it. Carefully, she put on the scrubs and then went over to open the door. “Doctor?” she called, clearing her throat. “I'm, uh, ready.”

“Okay. I bet you'd like a fresh bandage,” he said, coming into view from just down the hall.

“Yeah, that would be good,” she told him, with a quick smile that was probably pretty weak.

They stayed silent through the process, which was fine with Lucy. She hadn't really started to absorb everything that had happened yet, and she was very aware that Agent Christopher probably had some more earth-shattering news to tell her, too. But as he was finishing, she realized she should at least ask, “How does it look? How much longer do you think I'll need to cover it?”

“For a bullet wound sustained less than twelve hours ago, it looks amazing,” Dr. Edwards said, gently pressing down on the medical tape around the edges. “You'll need at least one bandage change a day – two if it gets wet – for about another week. Then those stitches will need to come out.”

“Okay,” said Lucy. She had barely noticed that she even had stitches, although that wasn't surprising. “How about the infection?”

“I'm prescribing you antibiotics to take for the next week, too,” he said. “But that's just as a precaution. And I'm recommending that you take it easy during that time, let your body heal the rest of the way.”

“Yeah.” She wondered how likely that would be. There was no reason to expect Flynn to stop taking out the Mothership just so she could rest. God, she really needed to know what had happened with Wyatt and Rufus.

Thankfully, Agent Christopher was ready to come back in as soon as the doctor had left. “How are you feeling?”

“I'm okay,” said Lucy. “Thanks for sending people to come and get me.”

“You're welcome,” she said. “Now. I don't suppose you have anything to tell me about Wyatt and Rufus stealing the Lifeboat?”

She dropped her gaze, and then remembered she was supposed to claim ignorance. “What?”

Agent Christopher scoffed. “Don't insult my intelligence, Lucy. I know you went to a bar with those two about an hour before they came here early this morning. You expect me to believe it was just to talk about the weather?”

Shaking her head, Lucy met Christopher's eyes again. She was actually neither surprised nor even all that annoyed at the suggestion that she and the team might have Homeland Security watching over them. “Fine. Yes, they told me. I told Wyatt he was crazy, but he'd already made up his mind. And frankly, I'm surprised it took him this long to try this. You promised me a chance to go after Amy – someday. I can pretend to be patient about that. But meanwhile, he got nothing, except the chance to come to work every day and see a time machine while knowing he could use it to go back and save his wife.”

The agent didn't reply immediately. When she spoke, she sounded less irritated than she might have. “I understand your loyalty to your teammates, why you wouldn't have tried to stop them. But I also notice you didn't go with them. Instead, you took off for a state park in the middle of the night.”

“Are they okay? They're not back yet, are they?” Lucy said, looking around as if either of them might suddenly come into the infirmary. The deflection was pretty transparent, but she knew it would sound even more stupid if she tried to put into words the reason she'd felt like she had to get away.

“No, they're still in 1983. And that's not all that's going on,” said Agent Christopher. “Anthony Bruhl tried to contact Rufus.”

“What? Why would he do that?”

“He wasn't interested in talking to Jiya, who answered the phone, or me, so we don't know. Maybe he'll call back, since I told him when he asked that you were expected soon.”

Lucy blew out a breath. “I don't understand. Why would he be calling here?”

Agent Christopher shrugged. “Look, if I could convince you to find something else to wear and stick around to find out, I'd appreciate it. I know you've had a hell of a night, though. If you decide to go home –”

“No, I'll stay,” Lucy said quickly. She couldn't imagine trying to leave without any resolution about Wyatt and Rufus, or even about this call from Anthony Bruhl.

Being sort of kidnapped by the man later when she agreed to go to his clandestine meeting was not her idea of resolution, however. When he dragged her out of public view, managing to put just the wrong kind of pressure on her bullet wound, Lucy had bitten her tongue instead of yelling. She had no interest in getting shot again, and the man was clearly on edge.

But his plan for ending all this was surprisingly logical. And she really wanted to believe he meant it, especially if the other option was Rittenhouse taking the Mothership to change history into their own image, as Bruhl had put it.

Thankfully, Agent Christopher seemed to be on the same page when she met with her in the parking garage afterward. Lucy was glad that the other woman was proving to be as trustworthy as Lucy had hoped she was. With her on their side, it didn't seem utterly impossible that they might actually be able to strike this huge blow against Rittenhouse.

That small optimism lasted until Agent Christopher showed her the surveillance photo of Connor Mason with the known Rittenhouse operative. The agent had probably continued to talk after she showed it to Lucy, but Lucy's ears had immediately started to ring. Her vision dimmed, too, and it wasn't until she heard the other woman loudly calling her name that she realized she had almost passed out. But even as she came back to herself, she could still feel a tightness in her chest, and she knew there were tears on her face.

“Lucy, are you all right?”

She waited until she felt like she could speak without sobbing. “I know that man. I've seen him before. I went to his house. That's – that's my father. My biological father. Benjamin Cahill.”

The agent's eyes widened. “My God. Are you sure?”

“Yeah,” she told her, covering her mouth for a moment. “I spoke to him, briefly. But that's not all.” Haltingly, she gave a summary of what she'd discovered in the Old West about Emma Whitmore, and how she'd speculated that it could mean her mother was involved in Rittenhouse in some way. “So, now that you're telling me my biological father is definitely some Rittenhouse bigwig, I – I think... I mean that has to mean I was right about my mother, too.”

Agent Christopher was silent for a moment. “I didn't know it was possible for you to discover something so precise about another person, from just scent alone.”

Lucy nodded, wiping her eyes. “Well, it is.” She wanted to run and hide, to get away from this horrible truth. Had her mother been... _this_ , even in the old timeline, the one Lucy knew? How could she not have known? What about the father she remembered? What about Amy?

“Then I'm sorry to have brought you such bad news,” said Agent Christopher quietly.

“No, it's not your fault,” Lucy said, trying to keep her voice from quavering. “I don't want to be in the dark, either. So. Anyway, we have a plan for what to do.” She took a few more breaths. She couldn't focus on her own problems right now, on the rottenness of her family tree. “We'll wait for an explosion in Oakland, like Bruhl said.”

Agent Christopher gave her a long look. She seemed to be about to say something, but then she changed her mind and nodded. “Let's go.”

~~~~~~

It wasn't fair that she didn't even have a chance to talk to Wyatt when they came back. Well, she had the chance to dash his hopes by telling him that Jessica was still dead. But that was almost worse than not talking to him at all. He was dragged off to some kind of black site, and for all she knew, that would be the last she'd ever see him.

Instead of going home after that, Lucy had gone back to Benjamin Cahill's house. She needed him to know that she knew who and what he was. She wasn't ready to confront her mother, but this man, whom she'd never even met before this year? She needed to have some idea of who else she'd be facing.

Her first, strong impression was to be creeped out. He said all the right things that she would have hoped a father would say about his daughter, but it was from all the wrong motivations. He also insisted that she was already part of Rittenhouse, whether she wanted it or not. That was not something she wanted to hear. Maybe that was the reason she didn't have the courage to ask him about her mother. She couldn't stand to hear yet more bad news – especially not from this man she didn't even know.

At least she didn't have much time to worry about Wyatt before Agent Christopher called Lucy and Rufus to a secret meeting in an old warehouse. Though she did inform Rufus about Lucy's father, Lucy was mildly surprised that she didn't mention her mother, but also grateful. As it was, Rufus had enough trouble dealing with the news about her father.

Honestly, Lucy wasn't sure anymore that she wanted to keep fighting against Flynn, after everything they'd learned. But when Flynn jumped again, both Rufus and Agent Christopher reminded her that it was still worth it, if only to stop people from getting hurt. Still, even if she hadn't been recovering from a bullet wound, this wasn't a mission that was destined to make her feel very much better about anything. Losing Dave – Wyatt's friend – so quickly into their time in 1927 gave Lucy the distinct feeling that everything was unraveling around her.

But she and Rufus salvaged things as best as they could. And it seemed like she had gotten through to Lindbergh, about choosing his own destiny. She was quite aware that she was trying to convince herself just as much as she was trying to convince him.

This trip was also the first time Lucy interacted in person with Emma. For whatever reason, her half-sister didn't seem eager to acknowledge her connection to Lucy, though Lucy knew the other woman would have to have sensed it. Maybe she'd already been told. At any rate, she wasn't openly hostile in any way. Not that Lucy trusted that meant she was on their side. The woman was an enigma.

Returning to Mason Industries to find it swarming with NSA agents - and no Denise Christopher – was a very unwelcome surprise. Agent Neville didn't seem very pleasant, and there was something about him that rubbed Lucy the wrong way. At least he wasn't Lycanth, nor was he another secret relative, she thought bitterly.

When they finally met up again, all the people who were trustworthy (minus Jiya, who was still back at Mason Industries), Lucy couldn't believe how tense she felt. If she hadn't known better, she would have thought it was the full moon, but it wasn't. (She had double-checked earlier.)

And when Lucy saw Wyatt come in, she couldn't stop herself from flinging her arms around him. She knew she was perilously close to crying, but she did her best to keep it together. They had to strategize. It was hard for her to concentrate, though. She kept feeling a ridiculous anxiety every time Wyatt took a step away from her, or even when he wasn't in her immediate line of sight.

It wasn't until the meeting had ended and they were all preparing to go home (or to a safehouse that Agent Christopher knew about, in Wyatt's case) that things came to a head for Lucy. Despite the fact that Wyatt was walking in a totally different direction from where her car was, and the fact that she didn't want to draw attention to him since he was technically a fugitive, it suddenly came over her that she was following him.

He must have noticed at that moment, too. He turned, and his eyebrows rose. “Lucy? Is something wrong?”

She blinked. “I...” Why had she just automatically gone after him? There was something familiar about the way she was feeling now, but she was having trouble placing it.

Now he looked worried, and took a step closer. “Seriously, Lucy. Tell me what's wrong.”

She felt herself relax slightly as he approached. This was just sad. There wasn't anything concrete that she was scared about, at this moment. He could take care of himself, and so could she. “I don't know. Sorry. I should go.” But she didn't move.

Rufus, who had left the building at about the same time as Lucy, came up now. “Guys, what's happening? I thought we weren't supposed to be seen together.”

Lucy sighed. Good, now they were both here to witness her freaking out for some reason. And yet part of her felt less anxious now that he was here, too. “Nothing. I don't know,” she said, in answer to his question.

“Something _is_ going on,” Wyatt insisted.

She opened her mouth, then closed it and shook her head. “I guess. But I really can't explain.” She had to try, though. Now that she felt less anxious, maybe it would easier. “It's like... I know we're supposed to go our separate ways until the next time Mason Industries wants us. I was literally just trying to walk to my car, right now. But that's not what I did.”

She didn't miss that Rufus and Wyatt exchanged a look. Then Rufus spoke. “You mean, you went after Wyatt without meaning to?”

She shrugged helplessly, and was about to say she thought that sounded right, when it hit her. “Oh my God.” It made a kind of pathetic sense, although she would never have expected it to happen like this. “God, could this be any less convenient? I'm sorry.” She ran a hand through her hair and bit her lip. “I should have recognized this. It's happened to me once before.”

“You've followed Wyatt once before without meaning to?” Rufus asked, his eyebrows shooting up.

She snorted. “No.” She sighed. “Um, it's, uh, it's a Lycanth thing. I don't really want to talk about it outside. Can we go back in, or something?”

“Sure,” said Wyatt. Once they were back inside the warehouse, just one light switched on, he asked, “What kind of Lycanth thing are we talking about?”

“Well,” she started, and then paused. Maybe now was the time for that backstory she'd thought was necessary before. On the other hand, they still deserved an answer sooner rather than later. “The last time I felt something like this, it was after I'd told my mom that I was leaving the pack, for good. She said I didn't know what I was doing, that I'd be back before I knew it.” Scoffing, Lucy stared at the ground. “Turns out, that wasn't just her usual high-handedness.

“It was only about a day later that I found myself outside the hotel where I was staying, getting into my car, and I didn't remember having decided to go anywhere. Then I realized I was about to drive back to my mom's house.” She crossed her arms. “I stopped, but it was... not easy. I didn't sleep at all that night, because I had to concentrate the whole time on not going back.”

Wyatt was frowning now. “Lucy, that's – I'm sorry you had to deal with that, but I guess I don't understand.” He swallowed. “Your mom is – was – your alpha, right?”

“Yeah.” She sighed. Then she realized what he might be thinking. “Oh, no, I'm not trying to say...” Unexpectedly, she laughed. “Sorry. I'm not trying to say you're my new alpha, Wyatt.”

“Good, because I was about to say I was really confused, too,” Rufus put in.

She took a deep breath, all traces of humor fading. “My mom wasn't doing anything to make me want to go back to her. It was all already done. Just as much by me as by her. When you're in a Lycanth pack...” She trailed off for a moment, working to swallow the lump in her throat. “There's a bond there. Between each member and every other member. And it's strong, especially between relatives, but it's not always just blood. And it's not easy to break. It would have been one thing if I'd just decided I needed some time away from the pack. Then all I'd have probably had to deal with would have been loneliness. But to actually leave, to really decide to sever that bond... It's easier said than done.”

Wyatt's eyes were wide and pained. “But I left. That's what you're saying. I left, and made you go through that all over again.”

“I didn't even know I was... bonding again, with you two. I didn't realize,” said Lucy quietly. “I didn't expect that I could, with non-Lycanth.”

Rufus looked emotional, too. He cleared his throat. “Um, you're saying I'm part of that, too?” At her nod, he went on. “Then I kind of feel like I should say 'thank you', for trusting me that much.”

She smiled. “I didn't do it on purpose, like I said. But anyway, I don't think any of us would have been able to – to do these missions at all if we didn't trust each other.”

“I'm sorry, Lucy,” Wyatt cut in. “Here I was, telling you that night about my crazy plan because of how much I trusted you. But I knew it was going to hurt you, even without knowing about – about this, specifically.”

Blinking back the tears that threatened, Lucy shook her head. “You had to try to save your wife. I – I get that.”

There was a short pause. “So, what do we do now? Wyatt's still supposed to be hiding,” Rufus pointed out.

“I know.” She shrugged. “I'll be okay. Now that I know what's happening, I can manage it.”

Now it was Wyatt shaking his head. “Manage it, by lying awake all night, by yourself? I don't want to put you through that.”

“Yeah, well, I'm not going to draw Rittenhouse, or the NSA, or anyone to where you are,” Lucy retorted. Then she smiled, though she thought her cheeks probably reddened as she had the thought. “And I don't have to. You're back. Right? If you tell me you are, that might be enough to, uh, help.”

Wyatt looked surprised again, but then he smiled, too, tentatively at first. “Ah. Well, we don't know what's going to happen with everything, but I meant it when I said I'm going to protect you and Rufus as long as we're still fighting Rittenhouse. I'm not going anywhere.”

Lucy nodded. “Okay.”

“Me, neither,” put in Rufus. “We're a team. I was telling Wyatt, actually, we should call ourselves the 'Time Team'. Like the A-Team, but with time travel.”

Chuckling, she reached out a hand to each of them, resting it on their shoulders for a moment. “Sounds perfect. Good night, guys.”

“Good night,” said Rufus, putting one of his hands on her arm briefly, too. “Sleep well.” Then he turned to go.

“You sure you're going to be okay?” Wyatt asked, after Rufus had left.

She nodded. “Yeah.” Just as she was about to urge him to go, there was a sudden loud shrieking sound from somewhere not that far away, and she whirled to face it. There was nothing to be seen. Whatever it was, it wasn't close enough to affect them. But the movement had strained her stitches. She bit off a cry, bending over and putting one hand to the spot.

“Whoa, what's wrong?” His hand was on her other side, supporting her, before she even thought about straightening up.

She took a slow breath. She hadn't wanted to tell him about this right now. They were supposed to be separating for the time being, after all. “I, uh, just got into kind of a scrape yesterday. Was it yesterday? Anyway, after the bar.”

He wasn't convinced. “A scrape? Lucy, if you'd turned any paler just then, I could have seen through you.”

She sighed. Not meeting his eyes, she said, “Fine. I got shot in my wolf form, after a park ranger found me trespassing on state land.”

“You got _shot_?”

“I'm – I'll be fine,” she said quickly, looking up. “It didn't hit anything vital, and my wolf form heals fast. I was already mostly better by the time I got back to Mason Industries. The doctor said the stitches will be ready to come out by the end of this week.”

He didn't speak right away. “I guess I can't even complain about you not telling me. There hasn't been time, and that's not your fault. But... hell, Lucy, what am I supposed to say to that? What if you'd died?”

“I know,” she said. “It wasn't a smart move. But I'm fine. You don't have to worry about me.”

“Yeah, right,” was his response.

She didn't know what to say to that. “Anyway. I really should go.”

“Okay,” he said. Then he cleared his throat. “Stay safe.”

“As opposed to running off onto state land and getting shot again?” She gave a faint smile. “I will. You, too.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, yeah, it's been approximately forever since I posted. Sorry! Busy schedule plus writer's block. This one's short-ish, but I think I should be able to update a little more frequently after this.

Lucy hadn't really expected otherwise, but there wasn't much about the immediately subsequent events of her life that lent themselves toward less stress. First, of course, she and Rufus had to pretend there was no secret plan involved the next time they went to Mason Industries. (And Lucy had to deal with the appearance of her father, and the gut-punch of him daring to promise her Amy. As if she believed he cared about her.)

Then there was the actual chasing after Flynn. She almost preferred the days when their missions had been so clear: just stop Flynn and protect history. Now there was Rittenhouse, and stopping Flynn didn't seem quite as important. But that latter point hadn't lost its urgency. So she pulled herself together and the three of them ended up tracking down Richard Hart – aka Jimmy Capone.

History itself, however, didn't seem to care that she was trying to protect it. Instead, it joined in on hitting her while she was down. When they did find Hart, Lucy could immediately smell that he was Lycanth. And she saw that he had noticed her immediately, too. But this was the 1930s. The chance that a Lycanth would 'out' another was even smaller than it was in the present. So Lucy gulped and went on with the plea that she had been working on as the team made its way to Hart's house.

She didn't think Wyatt or Rufus were aware of the undercurrent that ran through her conversation about family and doing what's right. But as she begged another Lycanth who had left his pack to go back to help take it down, part of her trembled. Part of her couldn't believe she was saying those words. And yet she did know it was right. The question was how well she'd be able to see it through herself, if she was in fact put to that test. Which she still hoped she might not be.

Any other considerations were driven out of her mind when the mission ended with a bullet in Rufus' abdomen. Lucy felt her insides turned to ice at the grunt of pain he made when he fell. Rufus couldn't die. They needed him – not just because he was their pilot, but because he was their friend. Her friend. An integral part of this new pack she'd formed without realizing it was happening.

Getting him back to the present was his only chance. Of course, even once he was there, they couldn't just take him to any old hospital where Rittenhouse might find them. And Rufus agreed, in spite of the agony she knew he had to be going through. So Lucy was forced to contact Noah, whom she hadn't seen since she'd moved out of his house to her current apartment. She had never quite trusted him, given how her mother had approved of him, but as far as she knew, even the Lucy he knew had been estranged from her family. So he really was Rufus' best option.

Obviously, that didn't mean this would be simple. Outside, once Rufus was stitched up and hopefully on the mend, Noah confronted her. “So I'm seriously not supposed to ask any questions right now?”

Lucy sighed. “I get that you're pissed. You have every right to be.”

“You disappear for days. Your mother's been desperate, calling me every day even though I barely know the woman – she was having me check local hospitals, Lucy!” He ran a hand through his hair.

“I'm sorry,” Lucy said. She didn't like to imagine causing pain to people she supposedly cared about.

“And then you finally call, but when I get to this abandoned warehouse where you are, you're dressed like freakin' Jackie O, you got someone's blood on you, and even then, it's like, 'Patch this guy up and get the hell out of here.'”

“Look, I – it's not safe for you to be here right now,” she said. “If I had any other way – but you need to go. I'm sorry.”

“Stop saying you're sorry,” he said.

“I... don't know what else to say.” She knew that was weak. And meanwhile this was costing her time away from Rufus and Wyatt.

“Explain it to me! Any of it!”

When she couldn't do that, he grew even more frustrated. He practically growled as he begged her to tell him why she was so different from the woman he knew, the fiancée he remembered. “This isn't you,” he finished, pleading.

Given that she had never known him, though, Lucy seized this as the moment to finally, completely break things off with him. She should have done it sooner. It was impossible to imagine ever getting 'back' together with this guy, when she didn't have so much as a pack bond with him, or any desire to work on one. “I will never be that person,” she told him.

“Is this because of that guy? The non-Lycanth?” Jealousy flashed across his face.

“Wyatt?” Noah evidently knew her well enough that he might sense the untruth if she just straight-up denied it. “No, I'm not breaking up with you because of Wyatt. I just... you deserve someone who can make you happy. I can't. That's not me.”

He searched her face. “Fine. I'll go. I wish I understood, but since I don't, I'll just say I hope you're happy doing... whatever this is.”

“Goodbye,” she said quietly. And as soon as he was gone, she breathed a quiet sigh of relief and went back to her team.

Things moved even faster from there. Lucy barely had time to wonder how Rittenhouse had found them so soon (could it have been Noah, after all?) before all four of them, Jiya included, were on their way to the 1950s. This trip wasn't any less stressful. The stakes just kept getting higher.

It was unexpectedly nice, however, to have the chance to meet her grandfather. She felt empathy for him when she and Wyatt realized what kind of place it was where they were about to confront him. She had already known for a fact that he wouldn't have been able to live openly as a Lycanth, and then to learn that he was gay, as well... the poor man. He certainly seemed a lot more relatable as a person than her father. (Who was his son. That was still weird.) It was too bad she'd never gotten the chance to meet him in the present.

The more time she spent with him, the more confused glances he shot in her direction. And by the time he finally asked her who she was, she knew he had to be able to tell by her scent that she was a blood relative. So she glanced back at Wyatt, then answered. “It's okay. We're both people you can trust. Wyatt knows I'm Lycanth.”

His eyes widened as he looked between both of them. “And he – you don't mind?”

Wyatt shook his head. “Not at all.”

It was Ethan's turn to shake his head, although it was more in wonder. Then, after a pause, he told his story of learning about Rittenhouse for the first time. Lucy's heart broke a little more. He was a good man. And there was an idea brewing in the back of her mind, one that might free them of Rittenhouse without the mass murder Flynn was planning. If she worked together with Ethan – her grandfather – they could stop Rittenhouse without firing another shot. Hopefully.

She held onto that idea. She had to be sure of it, if she was going to convince both Flynn and Wyatt not to resort to violence. Neither of them were excited about the way she interrupted their plans. Still, neither of them wanted to straight-up shoot her, either, which was good. They listened. Maybe this would work.

Then came another moment where the breakneck speed of everything slowed way down: Wyatt's response when she said she would go with Flynn in the Mothership. If she hadn't been absolutely convinced by this point that her plan was their best shot, the expression in Wyatt's face, his eyes as he all but begged her not to do it, would have undone her. And then he had to go and make it personal.

“We already lost you once. I cannot lose you again,” he said quietly.

Lucy's resolve wavered. She was, in a way, doing what he had done just a short time ago: deliberately leaving him, and leaving Rufus, with no guarantee that she'd be back safely. Of course, her motivation was different, and she didn't think there was any chance she'd be arrested upon arrival back home. But still.

No. This was the only way. She met his eyes firmly, not allowing any uncertainty into her voice. “You've trusted me this long. I just need you to do it a little longer, okay?” Then she looked back toward where Rufus was. “Get Jiya back.”

Wyatt was obviously not satisfied, but he gave in, nonetheless. She knew he understood doing what was necessary even when he didn't like it.

The disappearance of the Lifeboat was all the proof Ethan needed to remove any doubts he had about time travel. And, though he was still blown away by what he'd seen, he was already nodding when she finally told him she was his granddaughter. “That's why I... seem so familiar to you,” she said.

“Of course,” he said, with a wistful smile. “I knew you had to be a relative. And you're the spitting image of my mother when she was young.”

Once again, she wished she could spend the time just talking to him. Instead, though, she had to tell him about her plan to make him a double agent inside Rittenhouse, taking notes about everything and everyone, so that when she and Flynn – and the rest of the Time Team – got back to the present, they would have the evidence they needed. It wouldn't be easy, but Ethan seemed willing. She prayed to whoever might be listening that this would really work.

~~~~~~

In the end, it did seem to work. She was still not going to give up on Flynn – she couldn't believe he was a lost cause. But as for Rittenhouse... She hesitated to even think the phrase, lest it somehow jinx it, but it seemed like they might have actually defeated their enemy. And what was more, Agent Christopher hadn't forgotten her promise about Amy.

Lucy knew she ought to be purely happy about all this. Life could maybe go back to normal, now. Or some semblance of normal. Yet there was a thread of uneasiness in her mind that wouldn't leave her alone. Maybe it was the fact that, once Amy was back (and she would be back), there would be no reason for Wyatt to hang around. Rufus, Lucy could still visit anytime. But Wyatt was a soldier, and soldiers usually moved when their assignments were up. Lucy didn't know if her heart could take another splitting up of her pack.

Still. She tried to put a brave face on things. She still didn't want to use some weird Lycanth thing to try to manipulate him. He didn't deserve that.

Just as she'd expected – or dreaded, Wyatt confirmed that he was supposed to head back to Pendleton. Heart sinking, Lucy struggled to find the right thing to say. She had to at least thank him.

He smiled, but she thought he might be feeling unsure, too. “We'll stay in touch. I'll call you if I ever need a bossy know-it-all.”

Oh, he wasn't going to get away with that so easily. “Yeah, I was thinking about texting you the next time that I need a reckless hothead.” They both laughed. This felt so right. And it wasn't just her. It wasn't just this facet of her Lycanth biology, that neither Wyatt nor Rufus would ever feel in the same way. She knew it was more than that. The hug just confirmed it. It was sweet and sincere, not desperate as many of their hugs had been. (Not that she minded those, either.) Neither of them were quick to let go.

Serious again, Wyatt broke into the short pause. “You know, maybe Pendleton can wait a little bit.” At whatever he saw on her face, he went on, “You think I'm gonna miss the chance to help you get your sister? See what all this fuss is about?”

Lucy's heart rate sped up. He wasn't leaving after all! Not yet. But she quickly told herself to chill. It wasn't like she and Wyatt would ever be a thing, anyway. “I'm really sorry that you won't be able to get Jessica back.”

He had something else in mind, though, it seemed. He was talking about focusing on the present, just like she had said earlier. “Maybe I do need to be open to the possibilities.”

Oh, God. She probably never should have talked about anything like that with him. It hadn't been fair to hint that kind of thing – especially not while the two of them were lying almost on top of each other, listening to Bonnie and Clyde have sex. Still, instead of making the absolute _im_ possibility clear, as she should, she heard herself ask, “The possibilities of what?” And when had they gotten so close to each other?

She barely even heard him at first, when he answered. She was too focused on his eyes, his breathing, the fact that she could even hear his pulse speeding up, this close to him. But there was no missing it when he told her he wasn't ready to say goodbye yet. What she wanted now was to kiss him. With no pretending involved.

“Besides,” he added, with no sign of awkwardness or even teasing, “I can't be the one to break up this pack of ours. Not again.”

Her breath caught. He meant that. And he'd called it 'ours', not hers. The part of her that warned that she shouldn't get this close, that she needed to keep him distant for both their sakes, seemed much too hard to listen to.

Mason's appearance was like a dash of cold water to the face. They almost jumped apart – not like they'd been doing anything worthy of guilt. Just talking. However much they might have wanted to do something more... Lucy shook herself, then exchanged a smile and rueful laugh with Wyatt. It was time for her to make absolutely sure of what her mother knew about Rittenhouse, anyway. She needed to know, before they changed her past.

All she said to Wyatt was to let Rufus know that she needed to go take care of something, but that she'd be back soon.

“Your mom?” he asked quietly.

She nodded, biting her lip.

“Okay.” He took a breath, and then let it out. “Uh, good luck.”

“Thanks.”


	7. Chapter 7

~~~~~~

“Lucy!” Her mother stood, shocked, for a moment before ushering her inside. “Oh, sweetheart. I'm so glad to see you.”

Lucy allowed her to hug her, and put her own arms around her much less enthusiastically. “Hi, Mom.” Now that she was here, she could tell it would be so easy to assume everything really was fine. Her heart ached to do just that, to ask her mother's forgiveness and ask for the chance to re-join the pack. But that was too easy, too convenient. She needed to be sure.

“I knew you'd come back,” said her mother, when she released her from the embrace. There were tears in her eyes, and they looked real. “I knew if I just waited, you would see.”

“I – I'm not,” said Lucy. “Not back.” She sighed. “I wish...” But she wasn't here to talk about her feelings. She strengthened her resolve. “Mom, I'm about to go do something, and I don't know what will happen. I know what I hope I'll get out of it, but I just hope it won't hurt you.”

“Hurt me?” Her mother raised her eyebrows. “What are you talking about?”

“Sorry, I can't really say,” she said. “It's a work thing. Sort of.”

“Of course it is,” said her mom, with a sigh. “Then if you're not here for anything permanent, what can I do for you, Lucy?”

Lucy swallowed. “I just... need to ask, before I do this. Mom, I – I've met my father, and I know something of what he is. What he believes. Do you?”

Several emotions passed over her mother's face. Then she smiled tenderly. “Lucy, my sweet cub, you don't need to worry about him.”

Hope rose in her. “I don't?”

“No,” said her mom, shaking her head and still smiling. She reached out to touch Lucy's cheek. “And you don't need to tie yourself in knots about me, either.”

Lucy closed her eyes for a second. She wanted this so badly.

“Rittenhouse wouldn't have allowed you to do it, anyway,” were her mother's next words.

“What?” That faint hope was doused as she felt an icy chill envelop her. She stepped back.

“Really, Lucy, you want to take out the Lifeboat and risk making me sick, just to find some mixed-blood girl who never existed?” Her mother's smile was indulgent now, as if Lucy had made a silly mistake.

Lucy bowed her head, feeling the weight of despair sink over her. Then she looked up, trembling. “You knew? This whole time?”

“Of course I did, sweetheart,” said her mom. “Why do you think I chose your father as a mate? You're descended from two very well-respected, purebred Rittenhouse lines. And that makes you almost royalty.”

Her stomach churning at that, Lucy backed away. “No.”

“We both want you to be a part of this, Lucy,” her mother went on. “I'm so proud of you. You've shown strength I never would have imagined, living on your own for so long now. But it's time to come home. Rittenhouse already has a trusted operative on the Mothership. That's your real sister, by the way. Her bloodline isn't as spotless as yours, true, but she's no mutt. So join us. Help us build the Lycanth society we deserve.”

Faintly, Lucy could feel the draw that only an alpha could have over his or her pack. But it was completely counteracted by the revulsion she felt at her mother's words. She shouldn't have been shocked. Her mother and the other senior pack members had always broadly hinted at this kind of disgusting superiority complex. Still, she'd hoped. “No, Mom. I can't. I won't.”

“Lucy.” Now her mother was angry. “For God's sake. I've been patient with this soft-hearted sympathy for the humans for long enough.”

“'The humans'?” Lucy snapped back, furious and disbelieving. “We _are_ human, Mom. We're the same species, as much as you'd like to pretend we aren't. And I'm going now.” She turned and strode toward the door.

“Stop!”

The command rang through her, and she shuddered, but pushed forward. “Goodbye, Mom,” she said, without looking back. And then she reached the door, opened it, and slammed it behind her.

She made it about five miles from her mother's house before she had to pull over. She cried for a few solid minutes. When her tears were beginning to dry, though, she took out her phone and dialed Wyatt. “I don't know how she hid it, but she did. She is like my dad, after all,” she told him, without even saying 'hello' first.

She heard him exhale. “Shit, Lucy. I'm so sorry. Are you all right? She didn't... do anything to you?”

“She tried,” said Lucy. “But I'm fine. But listen, Wyatt, you need to tell Agent Christopher that Emma took the Mothership. We have to stop her. Or everything we just did won't mean anything.”

“I'll tell her. Are you coming back here?”

“Yeah. I'll see you soon,” she said. As she turned the car back on, Lucy thought she caught sight of something in the rearview mirror. It had been suspiciously canine in shape, and very large. “Fine, you've made your point,” she muttered. “I'm leaving.”

To her alarm, though, there were now several shapes approaching quickly. Swearing under her breath, she pulled out onto the street and stomped on the accelerator. Even an angry Lycanth – or several – couldn't keep up with a car for long.

Still, Lucy couldn't even take refuge in shocked disbelief as she made her way back to Mason Industries. She was way too keyed up. It didn't help to learn from Wyatt upon her arrival that the Mothership was already gone.

“Hey,” he said, at whatever reaction showed on her face. “We'll figure this out.”

She tried to believe him. It did really help to be surrounded by the people she trusted, working toward a concrete solution. But they weren't going to be able to fix this all tonight. When they gathered together to discuss their results after a few hours, that much was clear.

There was absolutely no sign of any criminal activity committed by Carol Preston, or any of the members that Lucy could name. She felt sicker and sicker as she listed them. These were people she'd grown up with, close as family. No matter how angry she'd been in the past, how frustrated with the way they tried to force all pack members to live a certain way, she felt like a traitor now. She tried to tell herself that they were the real traitors. They had to all be Rittenhouse. It only helped a little.

Lucy tried to stay engaged, but the longer they spent going over all this, the more she pulled away. It was the only way she could imagine getting through this. Her mind completely resisted the notion of how she was supposed to deal with everything in the future. Today was hard enough.

~~~~~~

Wyatt wanted to go after Lucy as soon as she left the debrief room, but Agent Christopher had just a few more details to discuss with him about next steps they might take. He tried to listen, but he was distracted by the image of Lucy's expression and how it had gotten more and more blank and closed as the evening went on. Unlike their trip to Germany, she hadn't seemed scared along with it (although he assumed she was – anyone would be and he definitely was). She was just... zoning out. And that was a perfectly logical response to the trauma she'd just gone through (and had been going through for a while now). Still, he needed to be there for her.

Finally, Agent Christopher said, “All right. That's enough for tonight. Go. And Wyatt?”

He looked up. “Ma'am?”

“Take care of her.”

She didn't have to say anything more. “I will.”

Wyatt's heart squeezed when he left the briefing room to see Lucy standing a few yards away with her back against the wall, just staring. Quietly, he called her name. She didn't even blink. He tried again. One more try, and she snapped out of it enough to look at him. “You ready to get out of here?”

“Uh...” She stared at him. “Okay.” Then she swallowed. “I don't – I don't think I can handle being alone, though.” Her cheeks reddened with those words.

But he was just glad she felt like she could admit that to him. He had no desire to make her feel embarrassed. “That makes sense, which is why I was planning to either go with you to your place, or take you to mine. Whichever you prefer.”

It took her a minute, but then she seemed to come to a decision. “Mine, I think.”

“Okay. Let's go,” he told her. She followed him toward the exit, completely silent. It would have been eerie if he hadn't known exactly why she was so quiet. As it was, it still threw him. This was definitely not the usual Lucy.

She didn't say a word as they got into Wyatt's car, either. He cleared his throat. “Uh, we can come back for your car later.”

“Oh,” was her response, glancing toward where she'd parked. “Yeah. That's fine.”

Normally, she would have protested this infringement of her independence. And of course, normally, he wouldn't have insisted on driving her anywhere after a mission, except if she'd been drinking. Which was maybe something he'd suggest for her to do when they arrived, he mused.

At least her silence during the car trip was less unnerving, since she fell asleep not five minutes out of the parking lot. He didn't want to wake her, since he had no idea how much rest she'd been getting lately. But it turned out she woke up as soon as the engine turned off. “We're here?”

“Yep,” he said.

She shook her head vaguely, but then got out and went to let them in. “Um. It's kind of a mess. Sorry,” she said, when they reached her door.

Wyatt didn't think he would have noticed the place being less neat than the last time he'd been by if she hadn't mentioned anything. “Don't worry about it.”

Setting down her purse, Lucy looked around like she was searching for something. “Did you want some water?” she finally asked.

“Do you have anything stronger?” he asked.

The ghost of a smile appeared on her face for a second. “Yeah. I have some wine, and a few beers.”

“Beer sounds good,” he said. He sat down on the couch. Barely a minute later, though, he was springing up again as he heard the unmistakable sound of a sob from the kitchen. “Lucy?”

His heart broke again when he went into the room to see her sitting on the floor against the counter, her face in her hands. The dam had definitely burst – she was crying so hard that her whole body was shaking. He kneeled down next to her. “Hey, come here,” he said, putting his hand on one of hers.

He didn't have to ask twice. She was in his arms the next moment, immediately getting his shirt wet. But that didn't matter. All that mattered was holding her, telling her he was here, and that it would be okay.

Once the tears slowed, Wyatt was forced to acknowledge that there was, in fact, something else he was noticing. And it was currently underneath him, stabbing at his shin. “Sorry, Lucy, but I've got to move. There's...” He pulled back from her and shifted positions, then picked up the offending object. “A bottle opener.”

Lucy sniffed. “Oh. Sorry about that. I must have dropped it. I – I never did get those drinks.”

“We can still take care of that now,” he suggested. “If you want.”

She sniffed again, wiping under her eyes. “Yeah. Definitely.”

He stood quickly to offer her his hand. She took it, but swayed as she tried to stand. “Whoa, careful.” He held her hand until her footing was more secure.

“I just... keep seeing her face,” Lucy said, not looking at his. “She called Amy a mutt. Mixed-blood.” She swallowed audibly. “My own mother. She – she taught me how to transform, kissed my cuts and bruises when I was little and I got hurt, kept me safe, helped me with my homework, made me love history... but it's like she was this whole different person, all that time. And I never realized. Or maybe I didn't let myself realize.”

“How could you have?” Wyatt said. He went over to her fridge and opened it, taking out the two bottles of beer that he found there. “Come on.” Then he led her over to her table, bringing the bottles and the opener, and sat down. She did so, too. “Lucy, kids don't notice that kind of thing about their parents. Hell, I didn't even realize there was anything actually wrong about my dad until I was in junior high, and his kind of behavior was a lot more obvious for that whole time.”

She looked up at that. Then she took a long drink from her bottle. “I guess. But I'm not in junior high anymore. Haven't been for a long time.”

“And you told me you haven't been on good terms with your mom for a long time, too,” he reminded her. “Right?”

“I didn't want her controlling my life,” she said, and then gave a bitter laugh. “Turns out she still was.”

“I don't believe that,” said Wyatt firmly. “Just the fact that you're so angry and sad, now that you know what she is, proves that she hasn't shaped you into whatever she wanted you to be.”

Lucy didn't answer, but he thought there was a little relief on her face. After another drink, though, she looked haunted again. “I think the worst part is, as – as much as it made sense to tell Agent Christopher about everyone in my pack... I still don't know about Amy. I mean, I know I don't believe she would have believed the same as our mom, but then again, this all caught me by surprise, so how can I be sure?”

Wyatt drank some of his own beer. “Well, obviously I don't know, either. But from what you've told me, it sounds like Amy was always trying to get you to do what _you_ wanted, not what your mom wanted. I don't think she'd do that if she was secretly allied with Rittenhouse all that time.”

“I hope not.” She didn't sound convinced.

“Besides, your memories of your mom are probably different from how she acted in, in this timeline. Right?”

Lucy shook her head, though it didn't look like she was disagreeing with him. “They must be. I mean, I remember a woman who fell in love with a non-Lycanth. They – my mom and my dad, the dad I know, they told me they both agreed for him to be turned.” She stared at her beer. “I still haven't decided how comforting all of that is, though.”

Wyatt didn't have anything to say to that. He guessed he hadn't exactly known that, about Lucy's step-father, but it was kind of a nice story. Or it would have been, without all this other awfulness surrounding it. At least Lucy seemed slightly less dazed by now, which he guessed was a good thing. Not that she was back to her old self at all, but at least she was reacting to her surroundings. No doubt she'd been right to choose to come to a familiar place. “So. What do you want to do? Watch some TV? Call it a night?”

Lucy gave him a weird look. “I should be asking you that. You're the one who's visiting my house.” There was no annoyance in her tone, though.

He gave her a grin that had been known to annoy her before. “I know that, ma'am. But the question still stands.”

She rolled her eyes, and if it wasn't with as much force as she would normally use, he still counted that a success. “Fine. We should watch something. Just... a comedy, or a brainless action movie, maybe. You can pick.”

He picked up the empty bottles. “I'll choose not to take that as an insult.”

He happened to find _Guardians of the Galaxy_ on some cable channel (had he known Lucy had cable?), and it was just a few minutes in. When he asked her if that was okay, she just nodded, and then sat down next to him on the couch. For the first twenty or so minutes, even though her reactions were still muted, it seemed like she was having a good time.

But at about that point, Wyatt started to notice that she seemed distracted. She was fidgeting, and shifting positions more than she normally would. Then he saw her wipe some tears off her face, though it looked like she was doing it quickly so that he wouldn't notice.

“Hey. Lucy,” he said quietly, “I'm not here so you can entertain me. We don't have to watch this.”

“I'm trying,” she said, still crying silently. “But I can't. It's like my brain won't go anywhere but back to my mom's house.”

Muting the TV, he turned to face her. “I've been there. Well, not exactly, but I'm saying I get it.” He hated that she had to have this in common with him. “So we need to figure out some way to really let you relax. Movies or TV are sometimes still too much. At least, they have been for me sometimes.”

Her expression softened. “Okay.” She wiped her face again. “So what do you do? When that happens to you?”

“Exercise, sometimes,” he said. “A few times, I've gone outside, somewhere with no people.”

Lucy scoffed lightly, though her eyes still glittered with tears. “Last time I did that, it didn't turn out like I'd hoped.”

He winced. It still gave him a pit in his stomach to think about her being shot, alone with no one to help her. Because he'd abandoned his team. “Yeah, let's avoid that particular situation. But if something a little less dangerous sounds okay to you, if you do want to be outside, or go running, or whatever you want, I could join you.” He hoped that hadn't come out like he was insisting on going with her. But he really didn't want her to be alone right now.

“I'm too tired for exercise,” she said, with a shake of her head. “Although, I don't know, maybe just a walk would be all right.” She made to stand up, and then her eyes widened and she sat back down quickly. “Or maybe not,” she added, faint.

“Oh, right,” said Wyatt, once he was sure that she was not actually about to lose consciousness. “I forgot that you're such a lightweight. Shouldn't have even suggested exercise after drinks.”

She just huffed out a breath, closing her eyes for a moment. “I can usually still stand, though.”

“This isn't _usual_ , though,” he reminded her, reaching to put one of his hands on top of hers in her lap. “So, any other ideas to help your mind relax?”

Though he had been keeping his tone light, she bit her lip and looked nervous when she turned her gaze toward him. “Um, there is one thing. But... I'd understand if it, um, wasn't something you wanted to do.”

He raised his eyebrows. “What?”

She was flushed, now, despite having gone pale when she stood up just a second ago. “When I went to the park that evening, it wasn't just a – a back to nature kind of thing. It was also that it's easier to think about just simple things, and not focus on how complicated life can get, when I'm in my wolf form.”

“Lucy,” he said, “this is your house, like you were just reminding me. If you want to transform, you don't have to ask me.” Though he did hope she would give him the opportunity to be in a different room from her before she took off any clothes. He took her hand and squeezed it.

She smiled, and it was a full smile, despite the clear fact that she was still uncertain. “Thanks. Yeah, I know. But... that's not all I was going to say.”

“Okay.” He honestly had no idea where she was going with this. “Then what else?”

She let go of his hand and clasped hers together. “In wolf form, when we relax, Lycanth usually, um, do it together as a pack. As in, all together in one place.” Her eyes met his for just a second, her face even more red than before. “It's not – there's nothing sexual about it, but the, uh, contact is important.”

Wyatt couldn't answer right away. He knew how much vulnerability this had to take, for her to even mention it to him. She looked like she was expecting him to make some excuse and leave. Meanwhile, part of his brain was stuck on the fact that she apparently wanted to, well, cuddle? But not in a sexual way. While she was in her wolf form. It wasn't easy to process.

But he needed to process it soon. Now that there had been several seconds of awkward silence, Lucy looked crushed. “It's fine,” she said, wiping under her eyes yet again and standing. She kept her feet this time. “I'll – I'll just go to bed. You don't have to do anything. I shouldn't have –”

“Wait,” Wyatt interrupted, standing. “Don't apologize. You're not forcing me to do anything. I just needed a moment to think. That's all.”

“Oh,” she said. Then she took a deep breath. “Wyatt, I know you want to – to help me, but I don't want you to feel pressured into anything, just because I've had a pretty terrible last day or so.”

He nodded. She was offering him a way out, one that would even still not make him into a jerk. “Okay. But I was all ready to sit next to you on the couch for a while tonight, anyway. It doesn't seem like this would be all that different. Right?”

She blinked, and then smiled again, though to his eyes it still seemed like she wanted to run away. “Uh, yeah. I guess that would work. If you don't mind that I'd be taking up more than half of the couch.”

“It's your couch,” he said, making a gesture of invitation toward it.

“And... I won't be as far away as I was a few minutes ago?” she said, still nervous.

“I figured,” he said. Then he sat back down in the same spot he'd been before. “Ready when you are.”

She stared at him for another minute, as if trying to judge his sincerity. Finally, though, she nodded, said, “Okay,” and turned and disappeared into her bedroom, shutting the door behind her. Not long afterward, the door opened again and the only wolf-form Lycanth he'd ever seen before came out.

There was still an instinctive part of him that wanted to be afraid. But he pushed that aside. “Hey,” he said, instead, turning to face her. She came down the hall and stepped into the living room, pausing. Wyatt took the opportunity to look at her more closely. In the Lifeboat before, it hadn't really been a good time to think about her appearance – plus, the lighting hadn't been that great, either.

But now that it wasn't an emergency, and there was plenty of light, he could see that she wasn't quite as huge as he'd thought she was, back at the Lifeboat. She was definitely still big – bigger than any dog or actual wolf he'd ever seen. As she took a few more steps into the living room, he took in her dark brown coat with some visible white, and those intelligent green eyes now fixed on him.

Then he cleared his throat. “Sorry. I guess I'm staring.”

She made a kind of shrugging gesture, and then came all the way over to the couch. She was absolutely still beautiful in this form, Wyatt thought to himself. In a totally different way, of course, but it was undeniably true. “You coming, or what?” he asked, resisting the urge to pat the cushion next to him.

With something like the eyeroll she might give him in human form, she reared up to put her front paws on the couch, then leveraged herself up. The whole thing moved under her, but not too much. And then, tentatively, she first sat and then lay down on her front. But her head was still up and she still wasn't touching him.

“Lucy. It's okay. I'm not running away.” It was a little weird knowing that she couldn't answer him in speech. But he did want to get through to her. So he reached out a hand, taking care to be slow and obvious about the motion, and put it to the side of her face.

Her eyes widened, but then she leaned into his touch. With a deep sigh, she then put her head down – on his lap. Then she brought up one front paw there next to her head, as well.

Wyatt found himself reacting by stroking her head, before he'd even thought about it. He guessed that wasn't too strange, though. If Lucy had been lying like this in her human form, he would have wanted to touch her, too. And either way, Lucy didn't seem to mind. In fact, her eyes closed and she sighed again. So he kept doing it. Her fur felt soft, though it was quite thick, too.

“You mind if I turn the movie back on?” he asked her, after a silence that was somehow not awkward at all.

She opened her eyes and raised her head to shake it. Then she stood up, which confused him at first, until she repositioned herself, curling up so she could still lean her head on his lap while facing the TV. Then she gave him a look, as if she was telling him she was ready.

He chuckled. “Okay.” Then he turned the TV back on, leaving his left hand resting on her head and neck.

This time, when he realized she wasn't paying attention anymore after about a half hour, it was for a whole different reason that wasn't at all troubling. In fact, he had started to notice a quiet, regular breathing sound that he might classify as snoring (at least to himself). Sure enough, when he looked down, Lucy was out like a light.

After turning the volume down, Wyatt tried to watch the rest of the movie. But he was distracted by the warm weight of her. Not that it was a bad feeling at all. It was just that he didn't think it was having the same result of letting him decompress as it had apparently already had for her. Instead, he was imagining what it would be like to do something like this when they were both in human form – and maybe more than just this kind of 'contact'. And that wasn't fair. Even if Lucy hadn't felt the need to be in wolf form, she was vulnerable and depressed right now. It wasn't the time.

Of course, even when he'd decided that as firmly as he could, that left him with one very obvious fact staring him in the face: he wanted there to be a time, soon. He wanted Lucy. Lycanth or not, lingering feelings for Jessica or not, he wanted her. No, that wasn't even accurate enough. He was in love with her.

Suddenly, he wished he had another drink in reach. None of this was really news, if he was honest. But it was a whole new thing to be considering it while she was lying in his lap. After she had trusted him with another part of her life that was private and probably not something many non-Lycanth knew about.

For a moment, he tried to imagine how the conversation would go if he got up his courage to be a little more direct with Lucy. “Hey, so, I'm guessing you don't want to turn me on purpose, or risk turning me by accident, but I'm totally fine with getting a prescription for prophylactic Morfex, and using a condom, so what do you think?” He scoffed to himself. He couldn't picture anyone finding that romantic. Would it even score any points for sincerity?

Lucy stirred, then, and he looked down to see her eyes open. By this point, the movie was over and the credits were rolling. She blinked, then stood and jumped off the couch (once again jolting that piece of furniture as she did so). Shaking herself, she turned to meet Wyatt's eyes. Then she took a few steps away, before turning to look at him again.

He cleared his throat, turning off the TV. “You want me to come with you?”

She nodded. Then she trotted toward the hallway to her bedroom. When she stopped and looked at him again, he frowned. “Lucy, I can just sleep out here.”

She put her ears back for a second, then barked softly.

“You don't want me to?”

She shook her head, and then walked a little farther down the hall before turning again. This time she whined.

He stood up. “Fine. But I hope your bed is bigger than the one at Bonnie and Clyde's hideout.” He could barely believe he'd just said that to her. Especially after what he'd just been thinking about.

Her mouth opened in what had to be a Lycanth laugh, and then she went the rest of the way into her room. Still not completely sure what he was doing, he followed. To his relief, the bed was, in fact, a full-sized mattress. It wasn't exactly roomy, but he could at least see that Lucy's wolf form wouldn't take up all the space.

A sound from the other side of the room got his attention. He saw that Lucy had nudged open the door that connected to the bathroom, and was standing there at the doorway. She nodded toward the room.

“Oh. Thanks. You don't need it?”

She shook her head, and then came over to jump onto the bed. He watched in some amusement as she burrowed under the covers with practiced ease, and then curled up so that just her nose was sticking out from underneath. Then he shook his head and left her to it.

When he came back out after having brushed his teeth, washed his face and changed clothes (he'd brought some necessities with him that evening, assuming that he'd be staying with Lucy the whole night), he was pretty sure she was asleep. Only the lamp on her bedside table was on. So, not allowing himself to think about how this could feel very different if only a few things were different, he went to the side where she wasn't, and climbed in.

Lucy didn't move. So he reached over and turned off the lamp. Then he turned onto his side, facing her (not that he could see her under the covers). Somehow, this wasn't as awkward as he'd feared it might be. And that was the last clear thought he had before he fell asleep.


	8. Chapter 8

He could tell it was about dawn when he next was aware of anything. He was still very comfortable, which meant at first he had no idea what had woken him. Opening his eyes and blinking until he could see in the dim light, he didn't notice anything unusual right away. And then he realized, just before he started to roll over, that his pillow – or at least he thought it was his – was now in front of him. So what soft, warm object was he lying against?

The answer became obvious as soon as he started to move his head. There was a sigh, and then a faint whine from behind his head. Wyatt bit back a cry. _Lucy?_ How in the hell had they both shifted around into this position, without either of them apparently even knowing? Carefully, he lay back down. He must not be too heavy for her in this form, if this wasn't bothering her. In fact, she sighed again when he put his head down, and if he had to guess, he would have thought she sounded content.

So. To recap, he thought to himself: he was lying on Lucy. He didn't even know exactly what part of her he was lying on. And wasn't that a weird thing to have to think about? For a minute, he considered easing himself off again, and moving to the couch. But then he scolded himself. Why was this all that different from how they had arranged themselves on the couch last night? It was just basically the reverse. Besides, all he was getting from feeling self-conscious about this was a reason to stay awake and be stressed, which wasn't good for anyone. He was still tired. As was Lucy, clearly.

Still, it was easier thought than done, to let go of the awkwardness. Especially when his eyes focused well enough to distinguish what had to be the tip of her tail, just barely in view. But he couldn't see any paws. Which had to mean she was facing away from him, so his head was lying on her side. Maybe her right side.

Very slowly, Wyatt rolled over to face the opposite direction. Sure enough, from this new perspective, he could see Lucy's shoulders and her ears, although he would have had to crane his neck to see anything else. She had to be pressed right up against the headboard of the bed. Except for his surprise at this arrangement, and the fact that he had to get used to it, it seemed like he was getting the better deal here.

But Lucy slept on. And he was glad of that. She needed her rest. If she hoped to come to grips with the trauma she'd encountered, enough sleep would be a foundation for that. Resolutely, he shut his eyes again. He could worry about his own personal issues later.

~~~~~~

Lucy felt more rested than she could have imagined, the next morning. It only took her a second to figure out why: Wyatt. His scent was everywhere, and that was him, that she could feel lying with his head on her side, too. She wondered briefly if he'd even noticed yet. He hadn't woken up when she'd decided to take the place of his pillow.

For a few minutes, she just lay there, savoring the closeness that she'd been missing for years now. But then a thought worked its way to the front of her mind: what, exactly, would Wyatt do when he woke up and noticed the way they were sleeping? He wasn't Lycanth. Sure, he'd been willing to have her cozy up to him on the couch, but this wasn't quite the same. How had she not thought about this last night, before just going ahead and assuming everything would be fine?

The more she thought about it now, the worse she felt. Somehow, she'd failed to think of anything but her own comfort. And now there was no way to extricate herself from this situation without waking him and making sure he felt the full awkwardness of it.

But if that was true, and Lucy couldn't think of any other way, then she'd just have to face the consequences of her own actions. Lying here stewing about it wasn't going to help anything. The first step would be to get up so she could go transform. Slowly, she started to pull away from Wyatt.

His breathing changed almost as soon as she'd made a movement. She froze. Then he mumbled something and turned over. His breathing didn't even out again, however. She was pretty sure he was awake – at least mostly.

The question was whether he had noticed yet or not. But again, he was going to, either way. So Lucy started to move again, just enough for him to have to feel it.

Wyatt grunted, then cleared his throat. “You awake?”

Lucy made an affirmative sound.

“'Kay,” was Wyatt's response, and then he sat up. “'Morning.”

Lucy rolled over and sat up, too. He didn't seem annoyed or confused. He must have noticed earlier, then. Which still didn't excuse her putting him in this position. She stood and made her way to the edge of the bed, jumping off.

“You want the bathroom first?” He scratched his head, scooting so he could get up, too.

Her guilt about her actions last night did not prevent her from thinking that a just-awakened Wyatt was kind of adorable. His hair was messy, and if she had been in human form, she'd have been tempted to run her hands through it. But she gave herself a mental shake, and then nodded in answer to his question.

“Okay. Think I'll go make some coffee.”

Lucy changed, showered, and then peered out to make sure the bedroom was empty before she entered it to find some clothes. It was only as she was pulling a shirt over her head that another factor she had forgotten came to mind. Shaken, she adjusted the shirt, replaced her Morfex patch, and then glanced in the mirror to make sure she looked all right. Then she quickly went out into the hall.

“Bathroom's free,” she told Wyatt shortly. Then she went straight for her purse and took out her bottle of Lupinox. Sure enough, there were exactly the same number of pills inside as there had been yesterday morning. Because she hadn't taken one last night before she transformed. “Oh my God.”

“Lucy, are you all right?” Wyatt came up behind her, giving the pill bottle in her hand a confused look.

“I'm sorry,” she said. “I – I can't believe I was so irresponsible last night.”

His expression grew even more confused. “What are you talking about?”

“My Lupinox,” she said, holding up the bottle. “I didn't take one. And I put you in an impossible situation because I wasn't thinking clearly enough to realize I was doing anything wrong.”

He shook his head slowly. “Well, here's where I admit I still don't know what you mean. You seemed like – like you were still yourself, even after you transformed. What is it you think you did wrong?”

Was he serious? Lucy stared at him. “You're going to make me spell it out?”

He shrugged. “I'm not trying to be difficult, here. I honestly don't know what you mean.”

Finally, she put her pills back and straightened. “Did you say coffee, earlier?” A brief retreat to see if coffee made anything clearer seemed like a strategic move.

Wyatt smiled. “Yes, ma'am,” he told her. “Let me get you a cup. And then maybe you can tell me what's bothering you.”

Lucy just went to sit at the table. She thanked him when he brought the cup to her, but said nothing else even when he sat down opposite her. She just drank her coffee – into which he had added the right amount of sugar and milk already.

Finally, Wyatt broke the silence. “I'm wracking my brains, and the only thing I can think of that might be upsetting you, that I guess you might think was too much? Was the way we ended up sleeping last night. Are you saying you feel like you shouldn't have done that, for some reason?”

Swallowing, Lucy made herself meet his eyes. “You mean it didn't... bother you?”

He took a drink of his own coffee, looking thoughtful. “Bother me? No. Surprise me? Yeah, sure.”

“I didn't ask you before I did it,” she said, blinking back the tears she could feel threatening. She didn't want this discussion to be influenced by his compassion at the sight of her crying. She felt like that had happened enough already. “I didn't even think about it. I – I'm pretty sure I would have at least thought about it, if I'd been responsible enough to take my meds.”

Again, Wyatt took a moment before he replied. “I don't think it's a question of responsibility.”

She narrowed her eyes. “You don't.”

“No,” he said. “You're one of the most responsible people I know. And that includes some high-ranking military officers, by the way.”

Now it was her turn to take a drink. She had no idea what to say to that.

“I could be wrong, of course. You know yourself better than I do,” he went on, when she said nothing. “But, Lucy, what I do know is that you were taking a risk last night. Trusting me like that. It must have been hard to decide to do it.”

She looked down at her hands around the coffee cup. “Not as hard as I'd thought,” she said quietly. Wyatt had always been easy to trust.

“Thank you,” he said softly. Then, after another pause, he spoke again. “Didn't you say, back when you first told me you were a Lycanth, that you weren't worried about hurting me or Rufus, even without your meds?”

Looking up again, she nodded. “Yes. But this isn't the same thing.”

“You're right. It's not. We both already knew there was no danger of you hurting me. And you already trusted me enough to suggest the best way for you to relax. I think you subconsciously realized you didn't need to take any pill,” he said.

She frowned. “I think you're giving me too much credit. Besides, you're really going to – to insist it wasn't awkward for you?”

Wyatt sighed. “Okay, fine, yes, it was a little awkward. But it was still a lot more... peaceful, I guess, than the two of us crammed onto one tiny bed, listening to Bonnie and Clyde going at it.”

“A lot of things would be more peaceful than that,” Lucy retorted, but she managed a faint smile. “Still. I don't like the feeling that I didn't think about my own actions, about how they might affect you.”

“Then I accept your apology,” he said. “But don't worry about it. I think everybody gets to be impulsive, sometimes. Maybe even reckless.” He raised his eyebrows at that last word.

She scoffed. “Whatever. Anyway, I also want to...” She stopped, making sure she was phrasing this the right way. “I want to ask you not to go so easy on me that you let yourself get uncomfortable, just because I, I have to deal with all this stuff right now.” That was still not exactly eloquent.

Wyatt's eyes widened. Then he gave her that patented half-smirk of his, shaking his head. “Sorry, Lucy, but I can't promise to keep you from being _so selfish_ that you actually get what you need instead of only worrying about what everyone else needs.”

Her mouth fell open. “What? You – what?”

Chuckling now, he stood up. “And I'm pretty sure Rufus would agree with me there. And probably Jiya, too.” He must have seen that she wasn't satisfied, because his expression became more serious. “All right. I hear you, and I'll remember what you asked, okay? But I'm really not worried about it.”

Lucy was still shocked at his pronouncement, but she nodded. Then, as she listened to him put his empty cup in the sink, yet another fact occurred to her. This time, though, she had to laugh.

“What?” He came back out.

“I guess I did already know, or at least I could already guess, after the way you found out about my being Lycanth. But I probably also should have made sure, before transforming and getting so close to you, that you're not allergic to dogs.”

For a second, it looked like Wyatt couldn't decide whether he was supposed to laugh at that. But since she was still smiling, he did, too. “I've got to admit, that never would have crossed my mind. But no, I'm not.”

“Good,” she said.

“All right, I'm going to go get in the shower before Christopher calls,” said Wyatt. He paused for a moment, though. “I'm glad you're feeling a little better this morning, Lucy.”

~~~~~~

But Agent Christopher didn't call that morning, or for the rest of the day. Both he and Lucy had things they could do for a few hours, so they occupied themselves just fine for a while. Still, after a while, Wyatt thought getting out of the house might be a good idea. Lucy was reading, and she seemed determined to be absorbed in the book. However, she also seemed tense and jumpy. Every time something in the house settled or made a sound, her eyes immediately left the book to scan the room as if expecting an attack.

That in turn was making it impossible for Wyatt to focus on the book he'd found. Finally, he set down the biography of Alexander Hamilton (careful not to do it loudly) and spoke. “Hey, does a walk or something sound better today than it did last night?”

She looked up. “Um, maybe.” Setting her own book (something more anthropological than historical in subject matter, that Wyatt was not ashamed to admit even the title baffled him), she clasped her hands in her lap. “I'm not making a lot of headway on this, anyway.”

He gave a quick smile. “More than I'd be making, I bet.”

She blinked, and then mirrored his expression. “How's yours?”

He looked at the book. “Pretty good, actually. I have to say, I didn't know very much about Hamilton. But it seems like he was pretty impressive.”

“He was a force of nature,” Lucy agreed.

“Too bad we didn't run into him when we met Washington,” Wyatt said.

She smiled, but then sighed. “Although that might have meant Flynn wanted to kill him, or something.”

“True.” The smile was what he'd been aiming for, not the gloomy conclusion. Not that he blamed her for still feeling down. “So. You want to go to the park again? Or is there anywhere else we should check out?”

Her eyes widened suddenly. “What about Jiya? We should go see her. God, I haven't even thought about her since Rufus took her back in the Lifeboat. Well, I mean, I barely have.”

Wyatt fought back his own surge of guilt, though he and Rufus had texted a few times in the past twenty-four hours. “I did check in with Rufus at some point last night, before I... before bed. He said they were going to discharge her this morning.”

“Oh,” she said. “That has to be good, right? We should still go see her, if she's up for it.”

Honestly, he wasn't sure Lucy herself was up for it. On the other hand, if she suspected he was treating her as especially fragile, she'd be furious. And besides, he had just been thinking that a change of scene might do them both good. “I can call Rufus and ask.”

“No, that's fine. I'll do it,” said Lucy. She picked up her phone. By the half of the conversation that he could hear, it sounded like she was talking to Jiya on the other end. When she hung up just a few seconds later, she was smiling. “Jiya says she's home, and doing well. She and Rufus would be happy to have visitors.”

So, a few minutes later, Wyatt was escorting her down the steps toward where he had parked his car last night. He was trying to be alert for anything unusual without straying into paranoia – and without making Lucy any more nervous than she might already be.

That lasted until Lucy grabbed his arm, about six yards away from the car. “Wyatt, there's someone here,” she hissed into his ear.

“Where?” was his response. His other arm moved toward the gun he had on his belt.

“Other side of the parking lot,” she said, still holding on to him, and still whispering. “The wind isn't quite right for me to be sure. But if I'm right, this guy's not only Lycanth, he's from – from my old pack.”

Wyatt clenched his jaw. “So he's most likely Rittenhouse.” At her slight nod, he moved them both a little closer to the car. “We need to get somewhere where we can call Agent Christopher.”

“Yeah,” said Lucy. She took one more step in the direction of the car, then froze, her eyes wide. “Damn. It's Roger.”

For a second, he had no idea who she was talking about. Then he remembered the list of people – members of her former pack – that she had given Christopher earlier. Roger Eddison was the second-in-command, her mother's right-hand man. She had described him as dedicated and ruthless.

“Okay, on the count of three, we run for the car,” he said in a low voice. “One.”

A loud snarl interrupted him. Faster than should have been possible, a dark shape was speeding toward them. As if in slow motion, Wyatt reached for his gun. But even as he did so, he was running the mental calculation, and he doubted that he'd have time to aim well.

Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw Lucy start to move. Again, faster than he thought was possible, she was in front of him, between him and the Lycanth that was almost upon him. “Stop!” she yelled.

The huge creature slowed just before it – he – would have collided with her. He was a dark brown color similar to Lucy's wolf form, though without any white and noticeably bigger. And he was growling almost continually as he faced off with her.

“Roger, what are you doing here?” Lucy said. Part of Wyatt marveled at her composure. She didn't even seem scared anymore. She was more angry. “I know my mother has to be smarter than this. She can't have told you to come out here and attack me, or Wyatt. What would that accomplish? I'm not going to be intimidated into rejoining the pack. And if you hurt Wyatt in any way, that would just make me even angrier, even less likely to _ever_ forgive her.”

The growling stopped for a second, and Roger turned his gaze to Wyatt. He didn't think he was imagining the way the green eyes sized him up. Then the Lycanth snarled again, looking back at Lucy.

She was glaring back at him. “What? It's broad daylight, in case you haven't noticed. If one of my neighbors hasn't called the police yet, they will soon. I suggest you get out of here before that happens. I'm sure not going to give you any help with the cops. And I doubt Wyatt will, either.”

“Nope,” he agreed.

Though the Lycanth had been looking a little unsure as Lucy started to talk, that seemed to infuriate him. He tensed, and Lucy did, too. “Roger,” she said warningly.

Wyatt took that opportunity to raise his gun. “Beat it, Roger,” he said.

With another growl, the Lycanth stepped back. Wyatt kept his weapon up and trained on him. It seemed like the confrontation might be over.

That was when the Lycanth sprang at him. And then a lot of things happened simultaneously. Lucy screamed, Wyatt fired the gun, and Lucy... Lucy jumped in front of him. There was another scream. No, two people screamed. Someone or something collided with him, but there was no pain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I threw in a Hamilton reference. As Eliza sang, "I'm not sorry."


	9. Chapter 9

Finally, when Wyatt could see and take stock of things, he found Lucy on the ground in front of him, and saw a dark shape running back the way it had come. “Lucy!”

“I'm fine,” she said, though her shaky voice and the fact that she was holding one hand to a bloody gash on her shoulder made that not very convincing.

“My God,” he said, crouching down, heart in his throat. “Did I – the shot, did it –?”

“Don't!” Unexpectedly, she tried to scoot away from him as he reached for her. “Wyatt, did he get you? Are you bleeding anywhere?” When he didn't respond, she repeated, “Are you bleeding, Wyatt? Wounded at all? You can't get my blood in any open wound. You _can't!_ ”

Understanding dawned. He glanced down at himself. “I'm not hurt. Now, will you let me help you?” Of course her first thought would be about anyone but herself, even while bleeding.

She swallowed. “Okay. It's just a scratch, though. He kind of glanced off me while he was trying to get you.”

Closing his eyes for a second, Wyatt breathed out a sigh. “I thought – I thought I'd shot you.”

“Oh, no, Wyatt,” she said quickly. “You hit him. Not me. Didn't kill him, obviously.” She sighed. “Who knows what that means, in terms of what we can expect from him or the rest of them, from now on.”

“Yeah.” Then he looked back at the gash on her left shoulder. “Can I take a look at that?”

She lifted her right hand away from the affected area. “Hmm. Doesn't look too deep, at least,” he remarked. Then they both paused, as the sound of sirens became audible. “Maybe we can get you a lift to the hospital, though, just in case.”

“I don't need an ambulance,” she protested, putting her hand back on the wound.

“We'll see,” was his response. “I assume this is the police coming. Are we telling them that you're Lycanth?”

She shook her head. “Roger didn't bite either of us, so I don't think we'll need to.”

“As long as we don't call him 'Roger',” said Wyatt. But he would follow her lead on this. He still had only the barest idea of what it must have been like to grow up Lycanth, so he wasn't going to insist on blabbing.

An hour later, the police had finished with taking statements (and helped Lucy bandage her arm, once they had been told it was a scratch, not a bite). The officer and his partner had accepted their abbreviated story that the Lycanth had simply attacked them without provocation. Wyatt had a suspicion that Lucy wouldn't have preferred to add to the general wisdom that all Lycanth were violent and not to be trusted. Still, it was true of this particular one.

Wyatt was driving Lucy to the nearest urgent care now. The bleeding wasn't too bad by this point, so he hadn't objected when she again said an ambulance wasn't necessary. He could tell she was in pain, though, so he hoped the doctor that saw her prescribed some good pain meds.

They were almost to the clinic when Lucy stiffened, and then reached to dig into her purse (with hands thankfully washed clean of her own blood). “Oh my God. We totally forgot about Jiya! They're probably wondering what happened to us.”

“Not that they're going to be mad, if you explain we're on the way to the hospital,” he pointed out. But she was right. He'd completely forgotten where they had been planning to go when they left Lucy's apartment that morning.

Lucy already had the phone to her ear. “Hey. Yeah, sorry.” She glanced toward Wyatt, then said, “Actually, we're on the way to urgent care. For, uh, for me.” She sighed a little. “No, I'm okay, it's nothing serious, but I was attacked. Outside my apartment, with Wyatt. I don't really want to talk about it over the phone, but I wanted to tell you...” There was a longer pause. “No, that's okay. I'm not going to be admitted or anything. I just need a clean bandage. That's basically it.” A second later, she covered the speaker and looked at Wyatt. “Do you think we can still head over to Jiya's place after?”

Wyatt shrugged. “That's really up to you. If you feel up to it.”

“I'm sure it will be fine,” she said, probably as a reply to him as well as Jiya. “I'll call or text when we're done.” Then she said her goodbyes and hung up.

“I called Agent Christopher, too, by the way,” Wyatt told her, after a minute of silence. “Just to let her know, after the officers finished getting our statements.”

Lucy's eyes widened, but then she nodded. “Does she want a debrief?”

“We didn't really get that far. It was a short conversation. But yeah, I guess we should call her again, maybe after you're done at urgent care,” he suggested. “She sounded like she was looking into increasing security – for you, and for all us.”

“Oh. Right.” If he'd had to guess, he'd have judged by this response that Lucy wasn't completely sold on that. But he didn't want to start some kind of argument right now. Besides, he was confident Christopher would insist, so there was no point in getting into it. The rest of the drive passed in silence.

In the waiting room at urgent care, Wyatt was surprised out of his bored skimming of a magazine by a familiar voice. “Master Sergeant?”

He looked up. “Agent Christopher.” He stood. “I won't ask how you found us.”

She raised her eyebrows briefly. “Because you know you all already have my people on you. The agent who was watching Lucy's building has been replaced, by the way.”

Wyatt nodded. “Good. Lucy's still in there with the doctor.”

“You said she tried to block this other... guy's attack on you?”

He didn't miss the fact that she'd obviously been planning to use a different word to describe Roger. In a low voice, he told her, “Yeah. She was worried about me getting infected.”

Before Agent Christopher could reply to that, Lucy came back out. “Hi,” she said, looking between them. “What's going on?”

“I just wanted to make sure you're all right,” said Christopher. “And apologize personally. This shouldn't have happened. I assigned one of my guys to a detail on you, but apparently he wasn't up for the job.”

Lucy frowned. “Oh. Well, it's not your fault.” She glanced around the waiting room.

“Let's take this outside,” Wyatt suggested.

Once they were at Wyatt's car, Lucy picked up where she'd left off. “Seriously, though. It's my crazy ex-packmate who's to blame. No one else.”

Agent Christopher still looked annoyed, and Wyatt knew it wasn't at Lucy. “Be that as it may, I'm expanding your details, each of you.”

“Fine,” said Lucy, though something was off about her expression and tone of voice. “Thank you.”

“And let's hope Emma needs a break, too. I was hoping to give you all a relaxing day off,” Christopher said wryly.

Huffing out a breath, Lucy said, “Yeah. That would be nice.”

On their way to Jiya's apartment, Lucy asked, “So, if we each have a – an expanded security detail, are they all going to be congregating at Jiya's apartment now, or what?”

Wyatt glanced toward her and saw that same tense, unhappy look on her face. “To some extent, probably. I'm sure they'll coordinate, anyway, since Homeland's in charge of all of them.”

She nodded. “Not that Homeland would have any reason to have been specifically trained to fight against Lycanth in wolf form.”

“Well, maybe not,” Wyatt said, “but I bet they have a basic idea. Why? What's this about, Lucy?”

“Nothing,” she said, staring out the passenger side window.

He scoffed. “Uh huh.”

She glared at him. “We never even saw whoever was supposedly guarding me this morning. Agent Christopher said this person wasn't up for the job. You don't think that means something?”

“Yeah, it means the guy screwed up, big time,” Wyatt said, his own voice heated now. “If he'd been under my command in the field, assigned to a security detail, and he didn't even show when the civilian asset was in obvious danger? He'd be lucky if he was still in the Army when I got through with him.”

Lucy blinked. Then she swallowed, and took a breath. “Even if the obvious danger was... nothing he would have trained for?”

“Wait, are you feeling sorry for this guy?” Wyatt asked, incredulous.

“No,” she said. “Not exactly.” When she reached up to push a lock of hair behind her ears, he saw that her hand was shaking. “But these guys, these people, they don't know what they're up against. Even I don't know, not really. Lycanth aren't exactly pacifists, but I've never seen a real fight between packs or individual members of packs. Because there would be no way to keep that kind of thing hidden. I mean, I can't imagine there would be. And that's Lycanth fighting other Lycanth – not Lycanth attacking non-Lycanth!” She paused for breath, but this time it was more a sob. “Wyatt, my mom wanted me to help her build 'the Lycanth society we deserve'. I'm guessing she'd prefer to do it by manipulating history, but if Roger was willing to attack us today, before Emma has even done anything that we know of...” She put a hand over her mouth. Her voice shook when she spoke again. “I can't help thinking, what if they have other Lycanth packs on their side? What if they'd really risk an all-out war?”

Wyatt felt a chill, colder than he had even felt when Lucy had told him Emma had the Mothership. The idea was terrifying. “Okay, but hold on, Lucy. We have no idea if that's something Rittenhouse would want. From what we've seen, they seem to prefer hiding in the shadows and manipulating people and events. And we did just strike a blow against them, anyway. We don't know how much power they still have.”

“For now,” Lucy pointed out, but she was breathing deeply, clearly trying to get herself back under control.

“Granted,” he said. “Anyway. Let's not assume the absolute worst case scenario just yet.”

She sniffed, and then nodded. “Okay.”

“This Roger guy, does he always only act on orders from your mom?” Wyatt asked, as they turned onto Jiya's street.

“Mostly,” Lucy told him. “But I do remember him taking off on his own a few times. Mom was usually pretty unimpressed.”

“So this attack could have been one of those times,” Wyatt said. He pulled into a free space in front of the apartment building. “Right?”

“I guess so,” she said, sniffing again. “Do I look like a total mess? Of course I'd have a little freakout session right before we got here.”

“You look fine,” he said. Then he winced, remembering Jessica's less-than-enthused responses to that kind of comment. “I mean, you look maybe a little shaken up, but otherwise the opposite of a total mess.”

Lucy raised her eyebrows, but then smiled slightly. “If you say so. Let's go.”

~~~~~~

Lucy was almost distracted from her own relief at how Jiya seemed back to normal by how worried she and Rufus were about her, and about Wyatt. “You were attacked in broad daylight!” Jiya exclaimed. “I think that beats my weird episode.”

“I don't think it's a competition,” said Lucy, shaking her head.

“Definitely not,” Rufus agreed. “Still. That's crazy.”

Lucy decided not to bring everyone down by sharing her latest hypothesis about potential Rittenhouse goals. As Wyatt had said, it was best not to jump to conclusions, anyway. So they kept the conversation light, and Lucy enjoyed being able to genuinely relax. It was nice.

All too soon, though, Rufus excused himself reluctantly. “My mom's been after me to spend more family time, and I promised that if we didn't get called in today, I'd take her up on that.”

“Go,” said Jiya, meeting his eyes. “I'll be fine. The doctor said it was safe for me to be alone now.”

“We should get out of your hair, too,” Lucy said. “But I'm really glad you're doing better.”

“Me, too,” she said. “Not to mention being glad you two scared off the freak who tried to attack you.”

“Yeah, let's hope that's not going to keep happening,” Rufus put in.

Lucy tried not to wince.

Wyatt, noticing, spoke up. “Yeah. Anyway, we'll see you later, guys.”

For a moment, when they got outside and she asked him to take her to Mason Industries, Lucy thought he was going to refuse, to make up some reason she shouldn't go. “I just want to pick up my car,” she told him. “You shouldn't have to keep driving me around.”

But he nodded. “You know I don't mind. But yes, you should have your car back.” They got into his car, and he started it.

There was a pause, then. Lucy cleared her throat. “I'm glad Jiya seems back to her old self.”

Wyatt agreed. “I hope that whole... whatever it was hasn't totally killed her enthusiasm for flying the Lifeboat, though.”

“Nah, I think she has too much curiosity to let one bad experience – even a really bad one – keep her away,” said Lucy.

“Sounds kinda like someone else I know,” Wyatt said, with a glance toward her.

She smiled. It was true, especially earlier on, that the chance to actually travel into history, to meet some of her heroes, had been a pretty big draw. If the missions had ended after only a few trips, Lucy was fairly sure a big part of her would have been disappointed. Now? She considered. She wouldn't pretend there weren't still a number of time periods and people she would be excited to visit. But overall, the costs had proven to be a lot higher than she could have ever dreamed. 

When Wyatt pulled in to the Mason Industries parking lot, he turned his ignition off and followed her to her car. “You'll let me know if you need anything?”

“I will,” she promised, past a lump that had mysteriously appeared in her throat. “Thanks. For... for coming over, for helping me feel a little less crazy.” That seemed inadequate, but at least it was sincere.

He smiled. “You're welcome, ma'am. Anytime.”

Smiling back, she cleared her throat and opened her car door. “Uh, well, see you later, then.”

“Be safe,” was his response, a bit gruff.

“You, too.”

It should have been a relief to have some alone time, once she was back home. Yet Lucy kept finding herself at a loss, wishing she wasn't by herself after all. That was ridiculous, she told herself firmly. She was used to a solitary life. It suited her just fine.

Resolutely, she picked up the book that she'd been reading earlier. It was one that she'd pre-ordered a while back, before all this time travel business had started, and she was excited to get around to reading it. Or she had thought she was excited. Instead, it was like it might as well have been written in German, for all she was getting out of it. And wait, why had her subconscious chosen German, out of all the many languages she didn't speak?

With a sigh, Lucy set the book down again, rubbing at one temple in a futile attempt to ease the headache that was building. If she couldn't concentrate on research, she should try something else constructive.

So, she took some Tylenol and then got to work cleaning her bathroom, a chore she'd been putting off for too long. That didn't require much mental energy. It did, however, make her injured arm start aching. It wasn't too bad, though. She had made real progress a few hours later, so she decided to take a break.

Getting herself a drink of water, she went into her living room and sat down on the couch. Then she reached for the remote. Suddenly, for whatever reason, she caught Wyatt's scent on the armrest next to her. She paused, inhaling. When she realized what she was doing, she swore under her breath. It was no use pretending. Obviously, she wanted him here. His scent alone was enough to make her wistful and lonely, even when it had only been a few hours since he'd been with her.

This wasn't good. In fact, it was very bad. This was more than just a pack bond. Which wasn't really news to her, if she was honest. It hadn't taken her all that long after meeting Wyatt before she realized that she cared about him as a friend – and then not much longer than that to realize that her feelings could easily grow if she wasn't careful. That kiss in Alabama hadn't helped, no matter how much she reminded herself that it had happened right after he had been reminiscing about his dead wife, for God's sake.

But now, after just a little more closeness with him, it seemed that her feelings and instincts had gone running ahead without her permission. Even if Wyatt was actually ready to consider new possibilities, it wasn't safe. She couldn't risk turning him. _Hurting_ him. No. It was better for everything, for everyone, if she tried to detach. They could go back to just being friends. She hoped.

Putting her face in her hands, Lucy tried not to start crying yet again. That seemed to be all she could do lately, and she was bored of it. But there was apparently no way to avoid it, at least for a few minutes. So she gave in and let herself release the intense mixture of feelings that hadn't really diminished since her visit to her mother's house. Only now there was the heartbreak of definitively relinquishing any future with Wyatt, added in to that maelstrom.

By the time she had no more tears left, she didn't feel much better. It was only late afternoon, but what she wanted to do was crawl into bed. It occurred to her that she had no idea when she'd last eaten. Yet the idea of food was not appealing.

All the same, she couldn't imagine just going to bed now, either. That felt too pathetic. Maybe she could at least finish the rest of her cleaning, first.

Once that was done, though, it was still only about five o'clock. Telling herself that didn't mean she was giving up, she changed into the comfortable shorts and sleeveless t-shirt she usually wore to bed, then decided to try to find something on TV. When her channel surfing landed on a rerun of _Buffy_ , though, she only managed to watch for about ten minutes. At that point, Angel brooding about how continuing a relationship with Buffy wasn't healthy hit a little too close to home. She turned the TV back off.

With an exasperated sigh, she stood up again and went into the kitchen. Maybe she had something in the fridge – or the freezer – that she could eat before going to bed. She was pondering the merits of a box of leftover Thai takeout when her phone rang.

It was Wyatt. Doing her best to disregard the pointless surge of adrenaline that had just flooded her, Lucy answered. “Hey.”

“Hey. Uh, you can tell me to butt out if this feels like me bothering you, but I wanted to offer.” She heard his breath huff out. “It's nothing special. I was just going to get some burgers. And I wondered if you wanted any. Which of course you could get yourself, if you did.”

Despite her tumultuous feelings about Wyatt at the moment, she had to laugh. “Yes, I could. But that doesn't mean I don't appreciate the offer. Honestly, I... haven't felt like doing much today, anyway.”

“It's not your arm, is it?” He sounded worried.

“My arm? Oh, no, it's not that,” she said, hoping she hadn't sounded like a total ditz for not even remembering that she'd injured her arm that very day. “I'm fine.” She also hoped her voice sounded normal.

“Ah,” said Wyatt. There was a sound like he was shifting the phone to the other ear. “So just taking a break, then? Sounds like a good idea.”

“Yeah.” Lucy swallowed. Simultaneously, she wanted to keep talking about nothing or anything, while she also thought it would be better to make an excuse and hang up.

“Lucy?”

She cursed under her breath. “Uh, sorry. I guess I sort of spaced out, there.”

“Maybe I should bring you food, after all,” Wyatt said. “Sounds it like might help.”

“No, I was just going to heat up some leftovers,” she said quickly. “But thanks.” Even as the words left her mouth, she chastised herself for running from the issue.

“Okay,” he was saying. “Well, then, goodnight, Lucy.”

“Goodnight,” she said. Hanging up, she warmed up her food and found a news channel on TV to watch while she ate. It wasn't exactly restful, but it did keep her mind off Wyatt.

Despite the earliness of the hour when Lucy turned in for the night, she fell asleep quickly and slept well, at first. It was only later that she started to dream. She was outside her apartment with Wyatt again. They were going to meet Jiya and Rufus. But Roger was there. And this time, her mother was there, too, in human form. Roger waited by her side as she approached the two. For some reason, neither she nor Wyatt made any move to flee.

“Really, Lucy? You haven't even turned him, and you expect me to sit back while you pollute the bloodline with this man?” Her eyes raked over him. “He's handsome enough, for a human. I'll give you that. But there's no universe in which he'd be in your league.”

Lucy couldn't look at Wyatt. Her cheeks felt warm, and her heart was pounding. “Mom, what are you doing here? Why is Roger with you? Someone's going to call the police.”

“We'll deal with that if it happens,” her mother said calmly. “In the meantime, we have business to attend to, the four of us.” She sighed, then stepped forward to touch her daughter's cheek. Again, Lucy didn't pull away, although she wanted to. “I don't want to hurt you, sweetheart. So let's start small. Turn your soldier friend. Call it a gesture of good faith. And then we'll leave you alone, like I agreed when you left us before.”

Lucy gasped. Now she could look at Wyatt, and he looked alarmed. “Lucy, what's she talking about?”

“I can't,” she said, in response to both him and her mother. Now she could feel tears on her face.

“Roger is ready to do it if you won't,” her mother said, annoyed. Her ex-packmate stepped forward, growling at Wyatt. “And you know he won't bother to be careful.”

Wyatt didn't have his gun, Lucy saw. That was impossible. This was all impossible. “No!” She stepped in front of Wyatt, with a vague feeling she'd done this before. “Don't hurt him!”

Suddenly, her mother was the one holding a gun, aiming it past Lucy's head toward Wyatt. “Turn him or he dies,” she snapped.

“Lucy...” Wyatt said from behind her. “You can stop this. If the choice is being dead or being a Lycanth, you know which one I'd choose. It's not even a question.”

Lucy turned slightly to look at him. “But it would still hurt you. A lot. And... and you can't go back, once we do this.”

“Oh, spare me,” her mother interrupted, cocking the gun. “Do it now.”

“I trust you,” Wyatt said softly. There was no fear in his eyes as he met hers.

“Okay,” she whispered, though it felt like a betrayal even to say it. She took his hand. Suddenly, though, that hand became a wolf paw. She hadn't decided to shift. She hadn't even taken off her Morfex patch. How was this happening? Before she could even cry out in shock, she was on all fours and she had dragged Wyatt down with her.

And his hand was bleeding now. Bleeding from where she had clawed him. He stared at it, then his eyes widened and he doubled over with a groan.

Lucy heard herself whine in confusion and dismay. It looked disturbingly like he was about to transform, but this was all wrong. The Lycanth virus wasn't transmitted through scratches. And even if it had been, a recently-infected person couldn't transform until the next full moon.

“Excellent,” she heard her mother say.

Wyatt groaned again, and then collapsed to the ground. “You... weren't kidding.” He stared up at Lucy, panting. “This feels... worse than anything... I've ever felt.”

He was still bleeding. In fact, there was a lot of blood on the ground beneath him. Too much blood. Why wasn't it slowing? It had just been a scratch!

Lucy whimpered. She turned her face to her mother, begging for some explanation. This couldn't be happening.

“Unfortunate,” was all her mother said. “I guess he really wasn't worthy, after all.”

Wyatt looked deathly pale now, and his breaths were coming in painful gasps. “Why... is this happening, Lucy? I... trusted you.”

Lucy drew breath to let out a howl of despair.

But the sound of her own choked-off cry woke her up. She gasped, blinking in the darkness of her bedroom. She was in human form (of course, because she had never taken off her Morfex patch), and Wyatt was nowhere to be seen – and neither were her mother or Roger. Obviously.

Sitting up, Lucy turned on the bedside light and tried to take deep breaths. She was coated in sweat, so she threw off the covers. Good God, that had been a horrible nightmare. The tears on her face had been real, she noticed, sniffing. There was no chance she would go back to sleep anytime soon after that.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I don't have a great excuse for how long it's been. Writer's block, getting ready to move, getting ready for minor surgery... Still, a whole month? Sorry. Hope you enjoy!

~~~~~~

Wyatt knew something was off with Lucy as soon as she came in to Mason Industries. She greeted everyone fairly normally enough. After that, though, she barely spoke, seeming distracted and sad. He would have called it similar to how she had acted just after learning about her mom, except that she wasn't spacing out like that. In fact, more often than not, her eyes were on him, although they always slid away as soon as she saw he'd noticed.

When Agent Christopher wanted to know why Emma would be interested in going to Seattle, on November 2, 1861, Lucy didn't recognize the date immediately. “Uh, well, Washington wasn't even a state yet. But I think that was around the time they might have founded the University of Washington. I know it's one of the older universities on the West Coast.”

“Yep,” Jiya confirmed, glancing toward them from her computer. “November 4, 1861 was the date the Territorial University of Washington opened.”

“Why would Rittenhouse care?” Rufus wondered. “I mean, I've heard it's a pretty good school, but still.”

“Who knows?” Lucy said. “A lot of famous people have gone there. Bill Gates' dad graduated from there, I think I remember reading.”

“Okay,” said Wyatt, still distracted by how gloomy she seemed. “So we agree we don't want Rittenhouse messing with the school.”

“Let's get you ready,” Agent Christopher said.

Wyatt wished the lead-up to a mission wasn't always so hectic – for a lot of reasons, but most annoying at the moment was the fact that he wasn't going to have a chance to privately ask Lucy what was going on. After Christopher dismissed them, he never saw Lucy until they were all about to get into the Lifeboat.

He did take a moment, after helping her up into the machine (who thought up those huge skirts women had to wear for this time period, anyway, he wondered) and then helping her with her seatbelt. “Are you okay?” he asked her quietly.

She looked up, her eyes widening. “Yeah. Fine. As much as we ever are, not knowing what's coming next.”

He held her gaze for a moment, but then Rufus started the jump and there was no more talking as they all tried not to fall apart. And Lucy seemed to switch to business (or at least history) mode as soon as they landed.

Wyatt had to agree with his teammates when they remarked that it was pretty surreal that they had landed in a forest in what would one day be the middle of a bustling city. “It doesn't look like much of anything, yet,” he said. Each breath was visible in the crisp, early winter air.

“It's beautiful, though,” Lucy pointed out, hitching her skirt up with one hand as they made their way up a hill. At least it seemed to be more of a pioneer-type dress than the one she'd worn when they went back to Lincoln's assassination – which, he would admit, still didn't make it very practical for a trek through the woods.

“I guess,” muttered Rufus, crossing his arms around himself. “Let's just get to the more city-ish part as soon as possible.”

“Hey, at least it's not snowing,” Wyatt pointed out.

Rufus glared and pointed at him. “Stop! Are you trying to jinx us?”

Lucy chuckled at that, which lightened Wyatt's heart, too. Maybe she'd just gotten up on the wrong side of the bed, or something. Maybe she would be fine.

As usual with these missions, once they got to where there were more people, they found that they were already significantly behind. (The only obvious difference so far was that it was Emma and not Flynn they were chasing.) Emma couldn't be found anywhere immediately, but they heard that she had somehow arranged a meeting with one of the members of the territory's legislature.

“Well, she used to be charming, when she still worked at Mason Industries,” Rufus said. “So she must still have some of that, somewhere.”

“She's also very smart, and ruthless,” Lucy said grimly. “I wouldn't put it past her to have bribed or threatened her way in.”

They had precious little time to come up with a strategy for ensuring their own access to any of the members of the legislature. Just being concerned citizens didn't get them very far. Finally, after visiting more offices than it seemed like there even should be at this point, they secured an appointment with one man the next day.

“I definitely prefer the Seattle of our day,” Rufus said to them as they left. “It may be rainy, but it has, you know, cool things to see downtown at least. Like the Space Needle. Or the Sci-Fi Museum.”

“The Sci-Fi Museum? Isn't that a little obsolete for you, by now?” Wyatt asked.

Rufus scoffed. “What, because we actually travel in time? That doesn't make the _Star Trek_ exhibits any less cool – or the one for _Aliens_.”

“I thought you were more of a _Star Wars_ guy,” said Lucy. A passerby gave their group a weird look. Lucy cleared her throat, adjusting her shawl over herself nervously.

“Anyone can appreciate well-done exhibits acknowledging important pop culture phenomena,” was Rufus' response.

It was inside the town inn (weird to think of Seattle as just a town, but that was all Wyatt could bring himself to call it, at this point) that he finally started to understand what was bothering Lucy. They had made little to no progress that day, and everyone was frustrated. Even worse, though no one had forbidden Rufus from being there or eating his dinner, it was clear that neither the proprietor nor the other customers eating their meals wanted him there.

That issue came to a head when the three of them went to ask for rooms after they'd finished dinner. It couldn't have been more obvious how reluctant the proprietor was for Rufus to stay. Wyatt knew none of them felt good about how he and Lucy had basically had to vouch for Rufus' character.

Rufus gave them a terse goodnight when they reached the rooms. Then Lucy turned to Wyatt. “Considering what Rufus went through, I won't complain that the proprietor didn't even ask if we were actually a couple and therefore wanted just the one shared room between us.”

Wyatt blew out a breath. “Yeah.” He unlocked the door of the room next to where Rufus was. He almost made a joking-but-not-joking comment about how he wouldn't complain, anyway, but he still didn't know what had been making her so sad today. He decided not to risk making everything worse.

Once inside, Lucy took down the clip that had been holding her hair up, and then sat down in the room's single chair. “I wonder if Emma is spending the night in the Mothership, or what.” They had checked to make sure she wasn't at the inn.

“I guess that wouldn't be too bad of an option,” Wyatt said, stretching his arms above his head. “At least she probably won't be screwing with any other historical events for a few hours, if she's there.”

Lucy nodded. She ran one hand through her hair, combing it out, but didn't seem to want to say anything else. And now that depressed look was back on her face.

Wyatt went to sit on the side of the bed that was closest to her. “Lucy. Are you okay? I don't mean physically, but it really seems like something's wrong. It's seemed like that all day, since before we left to come here.”

She looked just as startled as she had when he'd asked her that question in the Lifeboat earlier. Then her eyes slid away. “Nothing's wrong.”

“Really? Come on, Lucy, I know you better than that.”

For some reason, that made her blush. She still didn't look up at him. “There's nothing new that's wrong,” she said. “I'll be fine.” Then she stood. “I'm going to go... well, not change, because we don't have... I'm going to the bathroom.” She disappeared into the adjoining room before he could speak, closing the door behind her.

Well, what the hell did that mean? Wyatt took the opportunity to strip down to the t-shirt-type undershirt he was wearing under his jacket and collared shirt, and then took off his shoes and belt. He folded up the clothes and set them next to the bed. All the while, he was trying to work out what Lucy had meant. 'Nothing new that's wrong' could have referred to her situation with her Mom, and Rittenhouse, and everything. But he didn't think so. Despite what she'd said, it seemed like whatever this was had just started to bother her.

When the bathroom door opened several minutes later, Lucy was wearing what he guessed was the kind of undergarments that women wore in this era (kind of like what she had worn that night in Arkansas). She carried the dress she'd been wearing over to the chair and laid it over top.

Wyatt decided he'd use the bathroom before trying again to get her to tell him what was wrong. So he did, expecting to find her under the covers and maybe even pretending to be asleep when he got out. Instead, she was sitting on the bed, the side opposite where he'd put his clothes. And she looked... nervous?

He tried for a smile as he nodded toward the bed. “I know that's a pretty low bar to clear, but at least it's not a tiny mattress next to Bonnie and Clyde.”

Lucy smiled back, though it didn't last long. “Yeah.” She didn't move.

Okay, so was this part of whatever had been bothering her? He took a few steps closer to the bed. “So, are you going to try sleeping?”

She huffed, then opened her mouth to respond, before shutting again. To his surprise and dismay, he could suddenly see tears in her eyes. “I don't think I can.”

His mouth fell open. Then he cleared his throat and moved toward her, stopping short when she flinched almost like she was afraid of him. “Lucy. What's going on? You have to tell me. You're freaking me out now.”

She gulped. “I – I'm sorry. I'm not trying to freak you out. But I don't think I can do this.”

“Do what?”

A shiver ran through her, and for a moment, Wyatt glanced toward the window. It wasn't somehow the full moon, was it? Lucy and Jiya had done that check-through before leaving.

Lucy followed his gaze, raised her eyebrows, and then flushed when she made the connection. “It's not that!” she snapped. Then she sighed and rubbed a hand over her face. “I shouldn't have – this isn't a big deal.” She scooted on the bed so she could pull the covers up and lie down under them, facing toward the wall. “Let's just try to get some sleep.”

It hadn't escaped him that she was about as far over to the edge of the bed as she could get. He didn't move from where he was standing. “Look, I'm all for sleep. But you keep telling me this, whatever it is, isn't a big deal. And I'm sorry, but I don't believe you. It's bothering you. So it's something.”

Slowly, she turned to face him, and sat up again. Then she took a long, slow breath. “Okay. It's... not nothing.”

“Okay.” He waited.

Still looking close to tears, she grabbed the covers in one hand. “When you called last night, I... wanted you to come over.”

He frowned. “Lucy, all you had to do was ask, and I would have –”

“I know,” she interrupted. “But even while I – when I realized that's what I wanted, I knew I shouldn't.”

“Shouldn't?” Wyatt repeated. “Says who?” He hoped he was wrong about where she was going with this, but he had a feeling he had guessed it exactly.

She gave a short, painful laugh. “I know this sounds ridiculous. I mean, I don't even know what you meant when you said you wanted to be open to possibilities.”

He felt his eyebrows shoot up. “Don't you?” He moved so that he was right in front of her.

“Well, we never talked about it, after,” she said, sniffing and looking down. “And besides, I didn't know if you're actually ready. You still don't know what happened to Jessica.”

She had every right to bring up that point. “That's right. I don't. But if I'd been honest that night, instead of doing something crazy, causing an innocent man's death, I would have admitted I already knew Jessica's death had to stay in the past.” He'd never stop missing Jessica. But he'd be a fool if he stayed in a holding pattern, never moving on, while Lucy was right here in front of him.

“Oh.”

When she didn't seem to want to say anything else, Wyatt decided he had a little pressure to give here. “You know, there is one thing I didn't bring up, that morning at your apartment when you were apologizing about putting me in an awkward position.”

Mentally, he winced at the guilt on her face. “There is?”

But maybe this would wipe it away. He nodded. “It's not anything you need to feel bad about. I just think it's something I should tell you.”

“Okay.” Now she seemed puzzled.

Briefly, the not-at-all-romantic speech he'd thought of on her couch came to mind again. He scoffed. He wanted to help here, but he was so not good at these kinds of things. Maybe he would have to hope sincerity carried the day, after all. “The main reason I felt awkward at all that night, on the couch or in bed, was because... because I wished we could be doing that together. Just, just because we both wanted it.”

He watched as several different emotions passed over her face, one after the other. “Wyatt,” she said, voice choked. Then she gasped in a breath, putting a hand over her mouth for a second. With obvious effort, she got enough of a handle on herself to speak again. “We can't, though. It's not safe. For you.”

There it was. He shook his head. “That's an overstatement. Isn't it? I've been doing some reading about this. I know there are things I could do, ways to be safe.”

“You've read about this?”

She sounded disbelieving, which made his heart hurt. “Of course I have.” Now close enough that she was in reach, he stretched out a hand to touch her cheek. He had to get this right. “Lucy, you're smart, brave, beautiful, and you have the biggest heart of anyone I know. That's what I think about, when I think about you.”

She leaned into his hand, though he could feel her tremble. A few tears escaped her eyes. “Wyatt... thank you. That's the sweetest thing anyone's ever said about me.” She sniffed again. “And I can't lie and say that I didn't want the same thing, when I wanted you to come over.”

“So?” He took his hand away gently. “I'm not afraid of catching the Lycanth virus, especially when all the research says that if I take a low dose of Morfex and – and use protection, the risk is almost nonexistent.”

“Almost,” Lucy repeated, raising her eyebrows. “That's not good enough. I never had to – to be turned. I was born Lycanth. 'Pureblooded',” she added, with a grimace. “But I know the stories. It _hurts_ to be turned, Wyatt. I can't do that to you. I can't risk it happening by accident, either.”

Wyatt sighed. “Well, I think it would be worth the risk.”

She smiled, but it was a heartbreakingly sad smile, and her lips trembled. “Again,” she said, “thank you for that.” Then she took a deep breath. “But I don't know how I can say we should do this if I can't give you everything.”

She sounded so final. And yet he could also see how much it was hurting her to say those words. The ache in his own heart was twice as painful now as it had been before. “I'm never going to try to force you into anything, Lucy,” he said, clearing his throat again past the lump he could feel. “But can we back up a little? Yes, I want to be with you, in every way. But even with that said, do you think I want this only for the sex? We're good together already, as coworkers and friends, and that has nothing to do with anything physical between us.”

Still obviously upset, Lucy nonetheless quirked her lips. “Nothing?”

“Well, fine, not _nothing_ ,” he agreed, and gave her a quick grin of his own. “Still. I care about you. And I know you care about me.”

“Of course I do,” she said. She wiped her face with the back of one hand. “This wouldn't be so hard if I didn't.”

Despite how excruciating this whole situation was, Wyatt felt a moment of joy at that confirmation. He hadn't been imagining it. So this – he and Lucy – this was something worth fighting for. “Then shouldn't we try? We can keep it PG-13 for now, if that's what you want,” he said.

He hated the way her eyes lit up for just a second, and then that hope died. “For now? Wyatt, the facts aren't going to change.”

He nodded. “I know that.” Then he paused, weighing his words. He didn't want this to qualify as pushing. “I guess I would have to admit, I would hope...” he cast around again for the right way to say this. “I would hope you might think about whether it's worth it to hurt yourself, and me, right now just to prevent some possible future pain that would be pretty short-lived.”

She seemed dumbstruck again. She was definitely crying by now, although at least it wasn't the desperate sobbing he'd seen from her after they found out about her mom. “I...” she said shakily. “I don't know, I still need to to think about this...”

“Hey, no, you don't have to decide anything at all right now,” Wyatt said quickly. “I'm sorry if I made you think that's what I wanted.”

Giving one jerky nod, she swallowed. “Okay.”

“Sorry,” he said again. “I told you I didn't want to force you, and then I ended up basically doing it anyway.”

Lucy pushed aside the covers and stood up. “No, it's fine. I just need to, um, wash my face.”

He stood aside. When she had gone into the bathroom and shut the door, he rubbed his hands across his own face. That could have gone worse, he thought. He'd almost blown it at the end there, but it seemed like she understood what he meant.

Walking around to the other side of the bed, he sat down. Of course, now, after having just had a very emotional conversation, he wasn't sure how easy it would be to fall asleep. They needed their rest. But it was good to have cleared the air – or at least, he hoped the results would be good.

~~~~~~

Back in the present, the University of Washington apparently secured after two days in the past, Lucy knew she and Wyatt had to follow up on that supercharged conversation they'd had at the inn. After that point on the mission, the two of them had defaulted to a scrupulous politeness that Rufus had picked up on immediately. His first response had been to very suggestively asked if anything had happened during the night. But when Lucy's blush had been accompanied by a few tears, Rufus had sobered quickly. “Sorry,” he'd said, eyes widening. “Sorry, Lucy. And Wyatt,” he had added, seeing Wyatt's glare.

Now, though, they were back at Mason Industries, ready to leave the locker room. Rufus met Lucy in the hall first. “Hey, are you all right?”

“Uh...” Lucy tried to figure out how honest she wanted to be. “Yeah. I think so.” It could be worse, she had to admit. Instead of despairing, she was conflicted. It wasn't a relaxing sensation, but it was a lot less depressing.

“You sure?” Rufus asked. “You and Wyatt aren't, uh, fighting or something?” He looked like he wasn't sure he should ask.

She shook her head. “No. I think we'll be fine. But thank you.”

“Okay,” he said, relieved. “And you'd tell me if you needed something, right?”

Smiling now, she put a hand on his arm. “I would. Thanks.” She hadn't actually been mad at him when he had made that teasing comment earlier. She knew he would have never meant to be cruel.

That was when Wyatt came out, pausing in some surprise when he saw them.

“Well, I'll see you guys later,” Rufus said. Both Wyatt and Lucy wished him a good night.

Once Rufus was gone, Wyatt met her eyes. “You okay?”

She laughed, which he obviously wasn't expecting. “Rufus was just asking that.”

“Ah. So, what did you tell him?”

“I told him enough that he wouldn't worry about me,” she said. Then she took a deep breath. “Truthfully, I still don't know how I feel. Not really.”

“Well, let's get out of here,” Wyatt suggested. “If you're feeling up to discussing this, we should do it somewhere else.”

Lucy followed him out into the parking lot, although she wasn't sure how much it would help to have more discussion.

“So.” He turned to look at her once they were outside. “I'll be the first to admit, even after starting to research about Lycanth, and what it means to be Lycanth, I barely know anything. So you're obviously right if you tell me I don't know what it is I think I want to get involved in.”

Lucy blinked. “Okay.” She crossed her arms. If he was going where she thought he was going with this, it was a very interesting idea. Still complicated, but intriguing.

“You're a teacher,” he said. “It's what you do. So what I'm suggesting is, teach me. Help me understand. Then, even if we don't end up on the same page, at least we'll both know we weren't talking past each other this whole time.”

Oh, he was clever. Lucy smiled, and felt her face warm just a little. He knew her well enough to know how much this would appeal to her. “I like your idea, Wyatt,” she told him. “But I can't quite say 'yes' to that immediately, either.”

“Why not?”

Right before she answered, she changed her mind. After all, there were many 'rules' of her kind that she had long since decided to ignore. “Well, I guess I can. It's just that, if anyone in my pack – my former pack – found out, they would assume I'm telling you all this as a precursor to turning you. Otherwise, there's no reason to divulge secrets to an outsider, in their minds.”

“Got it.” He looked surprised, but not overly.

“But I assume you agree that we're talking about this to see what the next step _is_ , not as a decision in and of itself about that step.”

“And we don't care what anyone else thinks,” he said, nodding.

“Okay,” she said again. “Then, take me out to dinner and let's get started.” She made sure he could tell she wasn't serious as she added, “It'll be a work dinner for both of us. Maybe you should bring a notebook.”

He grinned. “Understood, ma'am. Right this way.” He gestured toward his car, and they made their way that direction. “But I don't need a notebook. I won't forget anything this important.”

Lucy laughed, feeling a small thrill at how much emphasis he was obviously putting on this. He wasn't going to give up, even when it was such a complex issue. “We'll just have to see how confident you sound when we get to the test afterward. I don't grade easy, not for anyone.”

He grumbled something under his breath as they reached the car. It sounded like it included something about having thought he was done with tests and grades a long time ago.

“True, education is its own reward,” she said. Sitting down and closing the door, she looked over at him. “But correction is also an invaluable part of learning.”

“Whatever you say, Professor,” was his response.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry this has taken so long. I hope there are still people interested!

~~~~~~

The evening went well, to start with. Lucy did have to tell herself at the beginning that she did want Wyatt to be truly informed before anyone made any final decisions. It was still difficult to convince herself to speak freely to an outsider about these things, though. But once she could put herself in the mindset of a lecture (really more of a one-on-one office hours session, she supposed), it came easier.

She chose a restaurant that she knew had good food, and that it would have seating that gave them privacy. Once they'd ordered, she decided the best introduction might be to explain pack structure first, since most non-Lycanth had at least a vague idea about it. Wyatt listened attentively, and didn't show any signs of finding it all just too weird. His questions were fairly to-the-point, as well.

“Everybody has heard of alphas. But I've heard people use the term 'beta' or even 'omega', too,” he said. “Are those a thing?”

Lucy shook her head. “No. Alphas might have their seconds-in-command, but it's not some kind of permanent or even semi-permanent position. And from the little I've heard about what people think omegas are supposed to be, I'm really glad those don't actually exist.”

He coughed, then, which made her think he'd heard similar things. “Yeah.”

“Also, it's technically possible that any Lycanth could become an alpha,” Lucy went on. “Mostly those who have natural leadership ability, but sometimes it just seems to happen.”

“Huh.” He looked intrigued. “Interesting. Did that ever happen to anyone you know?”

Lucy shrugged. “Mom talked about it sometimes. But no, not anyone I personally know.”

“And, uh, I already know a little bit about this, but you – any Lycanth – can still disobey their alpha?”

She nodded. “It's more like a really strong suggestion, that you find yourself wanting to agree with. Not absolute control. No one has that.”

“Okay,” he said.

If she'd had to guess, he seemed relieved. Which she understood. “Yeah, that's definitely good, right?”

It was his turn to nod. “Right. I mean, I know about following orders, but –”

“-But you also know about disobeying them when you know it's the right thing to do,” she filled in.

She thought he seemed surprised for a moment, before giving her one of his patented smirks. “Exactly.”

“Anyway,” she said. “That's the structure of a Lycanth pack.”

There was a pause. “That's good to know,” Wyatt said eventually. “So, would a pack – how much time would the members of a pack usually spend together?”

They paused, then, as their food came. For a few minutes, all they did was eat. When she answered Wyatt's question, Lucy had to fight off a pang at the memories it brought. “Well, a pack usually all lives in one house. That's why my mom's house is so big. But apart from that, it varies. Not all of my former pack had jobs that had to do with each other. Most of us spent most of the day doing our own things.” Setting down her fork, she clasped her hands together in her lap. “I don't know how every pack does it, but we usually did have dinner together.”

“Huh,” said Wyatt again. “That doesn't sound too bad. I mean, assuming the members of the pack all like each other. It kind of reminds me, in some ways, of being in the Army.”

She raised her eyebrows. “I guess I can see that.” Still, in some ways she was glad that hadn't occurred to her before – since the idea of Lycanth deciding to be an army hadn't lost its power to terrify her.

“Oh, speaking of armies and fighting,” Wyatt said then, and her heart rate sped up, “I have something else to ask you, not along the same lines we've been discussing. It's kind of a bone to pick with you, actually.”

Now she was just confused. “Um, okay. What is it?”

“I should have probably brought it up earlier, but there were a few more important things to deal with right then,” he said. “When we were attacked, outside your apartment – you jumped in front of me.”

Lucy blinked. This was what he wanted to talk about now? “Uh huh. Oh, yeah, I'm sorry I scared you by jumping in front when you were trying to shoot Roger. I should have checked, but everything was so happening so fast, and –”

“That did scare me,” Wyatt cut in. “But it wasn't the only thing. Or even the main thing, once I realized you didn't get shot. You knew he was trying to attack _me_ , right?”

“Of course I did,” said Lucy. “It was pretty obvious.”

“So, you decided it would be better if you got hurt, instead of me?” He was frowning.

“I wasn't worried about anyone getting hurt, Wyatt,” she said. “If Roger had wanted to bite you, that would have – not only would you have been turned, but you'd have been somewhere public, probably with police showing up and noting that down. We couldn't have kept the information to ourselves and decided how and when to let anyone know.”

Evidently, that hadn't been what Wyatt was expecting. “But if he bit you, instead...”

“Then that wouldn't have been a big deal,” she finished. “I would have still needed to be careful about the police or EMTs helping bandage the wound, but that would have been it.” She ate a mouthful of her pasta, hoping they could reach an understanding of each other here.

Wyatt was still frowning, but there was thoughtfulness mixed into what had been disapproval just a minute ago. He ate some of his own food before speaking. “Huh. Well. I guess I can't deny your point. I knew you were worried about me getting turned, but I hadn't thought about what it would have meant if it happened like that.”

Some of the images from Lucy's nightmare came back just then, and she gulped. “I promise, no one would ever choose that, to be turned by a public attack.”

“Even from what you just said, I think I see why,” Wyatt told her. He sighed, and shifted in his seat. “That said, I'm still not really okay with you doing the bodyguard thing for me. I'm the one whose job is to protect you.”

Lucy scoffed. “What did you want me to do, instead? I already told you why I did it. You expect me to have just let that happen to you? It wasn't about whose job it is to protect whom!”

“I know,” Wyatt said, and he sighed again, rubbing a hand across his face. “It's not like I can really be mad at you for protecting me from something painful and – and really uncomfortable in so many ways. It just doesn't feel right, to me.”

She was the one frowning now. “What would you have thought if I'd been in wolf form?”

“Then you wouldn't have been unarmed or smaller than everyone else there,” he said. “I still wouldn't have wanted you to get hurt for me, but maybe it wouldn't have been as terrifying.”

That took the wind out of her sails. “We're a team,” she reminded him, not nearly as heated as she had been. “We look out for each other. And I'll be the first to admit that usually means you handle a lot of the more dangerous stuff, especially when we're on a mission. I'm not a soldier. Neither is Rufus. We need you for that. But I am Lycanth, and always have been, so I have to think it's logical that I'd handle Lycanth stuff.”

He didn't reply right away. When he did, there was a far-off look in his eyes that Lucy recognized. “I used to tell Jess she didn't have to worry about me, whenever I was deployed. And she'd just say it was kind of her job to worry. And I got it, obviously. It'd have been crazy if she didn't worry. Hell, I worried about her being alone without me. Still, I don't think I understood exactly how she felt until now.”

Lucy put her hand over his, across the table. “I really didn't want to scare you.”

“But you did,” was his response, even as he turned over his hand so he could hold hers. “You have before, when you do something brave but reckless. I guess I should know what I'm in for, by now.”

“Funny,” she said quietly, “because I thought you were the brave but reckless one. And I've definitely been scared for you. All the time.”

He nodded just slightly. “Still. Even if I get so that I understand more about Lycanth, so I know more of when and why you might do something like that... I think it might still be even harder for me not to worry now.” He squeezed her hand, and those gorgeous eyes of his held hers.

“Now that... what?” she asked, finding herself oddly breathless.

“Now that I've admitted to myself – and to you – that I'm in love with you,” he said.

Her heart did something both painful and wonderful as he said those words. She could feel her face warm, too, and despite all her perfectly legitimate reservations, she didn't want to reply in any other way than to say, “Me, too.” Then she gave a short laugh. “I guess I mean, both that I'm in love with you, and that I'm also going to be more worried for you than usual because of it.”

Wyatt was smiling now, too. “Yeah?”

Their waitress happened to come back to their table at that moment. “Are you two ready for dessert?”

“What do you think, Lucy?” Wyatt asked, still looking happier than she thought she'd ever seen him. “Does that sound good?”

She wasn't very hungry, but if she was going to throw caution to the wind in terms of her relationship with Wyatt, dessert didn't seem like quite as big of a deal. “Uh, sure.”

~~~~~

Neither of them noticed the man who had been sitting just a few tables away from them. He had been keeping to himself, so why would they? The amount of cologne he was wearing, to mask his scent, certainly would have helped. (It was enough to be painful to himself, that was for sure.) And he wasn't sure this was the right time to leave yet. On the other hand, he had already heard more than enough to report back.

So, since he had already paid for his coffee and sandwich, he stood and made his way to the exit. Once outside, he took out his phone and dialed. One ring later, the person on the other end answer. “Yes. I can confirm your suspicions, ma'am. Yes, and she passed on secrets.” He paused. “I'm obviously not as well acquainted with her as I thought, but to my observation, it all seemed genuine.”

After another pause, as he walked toward his car, he said, “No, ma'am. I'm sure I would know if either of them had noticed me. All right. What's our next move?” This next period of silence was the longest. The man swallowed, and glanced back toward the restaurant. “Are you sure that's best?” Then he winced. “Yes, ma'am. Of course. I'm leaving now.” Hanging up the phone, he gave one more look back at the restaurant. “Well, Lucy,” he muttered, “I doubt this new life of yours could possibly be worth what's coming.” Then he sighed, and got into his car to go speak to his boss in person.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that's it for this section of this story! But never fear, I do have more planned.
> 
> Happy holidays to all.

**Author's Note:**

> FYI, this is not an 'Omegaverse' fic.


End file.
